I. THE WINDOWS (1903)
by C.P. Cavafy, trans. by Edmund Keeley, Philip Sherrard, and John Cavafy

In these dark rooms where I live out vacant days,
I wander round and round
seeking the windows.
It will be a great relief when a window opens.
But the windows aren’t there to be found –
or at least I cannot find them.
And perhaps
it is better that I don’t find them.
Perhaps the light will prove another tyranny.
Who knows what new things it will expose?

Original text:

Τα παράθυρα
Σ' αυτές τις σκοτεινές κάμαρες, που περνώ
μέρες βαρυές, επάνω κάτω τριγυρνώ
για νάβρω τα παράθυρα. -- Οταν ανοίξει
ένα παράθυρο θάναι παρηγοριά. --
Μα τα παράθυρα δεν βρίσκονται, ή δεν μπορώ
να τάβρω. Και καλλίτερα ίσως να μην τα βρώ.
Ισως το φως θάναι μια νέα τυραννία.
Ποιός ξέρει τι καινούρια πράγματα θα δείξει.


II. ACROSS THE SPACE (1952)
from "In The Winter of Cities"
by Tennessee Williams

Across the space between
a bed and chair
I watch you fade into
the fading air.

Intimate these moments,
dim and warm.
My finger tips could touch
your unsleeved arm

and so release the fire
and brutal shock
suspended in quiet air
and tender watch.

I say I could, and it
may be I will,
but have forborne and am
forbearing still,

for there is something delicate
and rare
drawn tight across the space
from bed to chair.

III. CLUB L’ESCLAVE (2012)
by Garth Greenwell

... two men are ...

like a bird before a snake. Now the first,
closer, lifts one leg ...

All of us watch it, feeling

almost together the same longing to be bound
hunted as that boy was bound. Above us,
in the dark room at the top of the stairs,
unclaimed bodies circle namelessly
a man on his knees. Why did I think
I could come here and be

changed? ...

—

The English translation of “The Windows” uses translations by Edmund Keeley, Philip Sherrard, and John Cavafy.

“Across the Space” from The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams by Tennessee Williams. Copyright © 1925, 1926, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2002 by The University of the South. Used by arrangement with Georges Borchardt, Inc. for the Estate of Tennessee Williams. All rights reserved.

“Club L'Esclave” used by permission of the author.