The last gate

I have flung open the gates
                                to my soul,
Only one I keep closed,
The last gate.
There linger the angels,
There loiter the devils.
If you approach the angels,
You will make me your slave,
If you approach the devils,
You will become my slave.

The last gate will remain closed.

[Porta e fundit, from the volume Vargje të përfolura, Tirana 1994, p. 5. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]