I realized
I’m paralyzed
about 240 months ago

That
has never killed me it is
just one part of me about which I know

I don’t know anything and so during one
June day I started walking without thinking
I did it and I was filled with joy like a child

even though I’m too guilty
to be a child if you only knew how
happy I was underneath me there was

water
there was a lot of water
and for a moment the weight was dead

and I was a walking man then
everything became as before
But I prefer

to look at things
from a better angle
Otherwise I’ll collapse

But I won’t …

-Rossen Karamfilov,
translated from the original Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger:
Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
(Accents Publishing)