Do not demand any promises

Do not demand any promises,
Promises like keys can be lost,
Do not demand constant love,
Eternity and the shadows of death lurk nearby,
Never demand any unsaid words,
Words mean no more than objects.
Demand only that I change one moment
In your long life.

[from the volume Vargje të përfolura, Tirana 1994. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]