Heavy Burden, Your Fragile Body

With my gnawed liver,
With my lashed lungs,
With my fingers stained and tarred from nicotine,
I am of no use to anyone.

I cannot believe
That you would be foolish enough
To bestow your love on me.

I don't know what to do
With my insomnia,
With those shadows of fallen friends.

Heavy burden,
Your fragile body.

[Barrë e madhe, trupi yt i thyeshëm, from the volume Pikat AD, Prishtina: Rilindja, 2002, p. 78. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]