Cypselus apus

“See, see, see,
see! see! see!
see!! see!! see!!
                   see!!!”
hear hear these
weeping swifts
twice or thrice 
                   three,
sweeping and 
weeping there:
“Do we see . . .
                   see
anyone
we can’t flee?
We, we? we?? 
                   we???”

Peeping and
cheeping, lithe
and disci- 
                   plined;
wheeling and 
reeling as
quick as the 
                   wind;
lifting and
drifting 
so swift on the 
                   wing,
going and
rowing round
spires they 
                   swing.

Down they are
gliding, soon
widening their 
                   flight;
skyward are
waving their
wings in the 
                   height:
scarcely I
hear these . . . I
no longer 
                   see,
singing still
vividly:
“We??? we?? We? 
                   We . . .”

© Translation: 1989, Paul Claes and Christine D’haen.
From The Evening and the Rose: 30 Poems (Guido Gezellegenootschap, Antwerp, 1989)