Girl
Between the afternoon, resisting,
and the night, gathering,
the gaze of a young girl.
She abandons her notebook and writing,
all of her being in two fixed eyes.
On the wall the light cancels itself.
Does she see her end or her beginning?
She’ll say she sees nothing.
The infinite is transparent.
She’ll never know what she saw.
by Octavio Paz
from The Collected Poems, 1957-1987
Carcanet, 1987
……~~~~~
Original Spanish:
Niña
Entre la tarde que se obstina
y la noche que se acumula
hay la mirada de una niña.
Deja el cuaderno y la escritura,
todo su ser dos ojos fijose.
En la pared la luz se anula.
¿Mira su fin o su principio?
Ella dirá que no ve nada.
Es transparente el infinito.
Nunca sabrá que lo miraba.