I’m Going to Sleep by Alfonsina Storni

I’m Going to Sleep

 

Teeth of flowers, bonnet of dew,

hands of grass, you, lovely nursemaid,

turn down the earthen sheets for me

and the quilt of weeded moss.

 

I’m going to sleep, my nurse, tuck me in,

put a lamp on my headboard;

a constellation; whichever you like;

both are fine; lower the light a little.

 

Leave me alone: you hear buds bursting open . . .

An unearthly foot rocks you from above

and a bird sketches you a few beats

 

so you’ll forget . . . Thanks. Oh, a favor:

if he calls again on the phone

tell him not to insist, that I’ve gone . . .

 

(Translated by Lauren K. Watel)