If I were Unbeen

Oh sister, my sister,
A long, cold night is looming
In the mournful blue.

Rosy-fingered dawn
Will find me awake,
It will lead me by the hand,
It will lay me to rest.

Oh sister, my sister,
Noon will find me asleep
(High Noon full of Grace)
With a handful of dreams, of hopes
Under my pillow,
And the planet will embrace life in joy
When the sun attains the vaults of heaven.

Oh sister, my sister,
Dawn will find me awake,
Noon will find me asleep,
From that long, cold night
Looming in the mournful blue,
And I, if only I had
Unbeen from the start.

[Si të isha i mosqenë, from the volume Të qenët të mosqenë, Prishtina: Rilindja, 1990, p. 35. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]