Poetry Sunday: He marked the page with a match

He marked the page with a match

BY VERA PAVLOVA
TRANSLATED BY STEVEN SEYMOUR

He marked the page with a match
and fell asleep in mid-kiss,
while I, a queen bee
in a disturbed hive, stay up and buzz:
half a kingdom for a honey drop,
half a lifetime for a tender word!
His face, half turned.
Half past midnight. Half past one.