***

happiness

returns

with the smile of a child

who is starting to feel better

and for now

is smaller than a little umbrella

which too

has folded its wings

and is sick with the flu

the whirligig in the corner also has the flu

too weak to bang its foot

to fan out

its colorful

skirts

with a fever of

one hundred

the whole house

has become silent

and only

two sad creatures

helplessly pace about

the room

shuffling their lowered

wings

along the floor

Translated by Mark Andryczyk and Yaryna Yakubyak