"The City of Toys"

The road divides the city in two:
on this side, in light,
the leather snake
sweats in the showcase,
the crocodile opens and closes its eyes,
the kangaroo cracks walnuts with its navel,
standing opposite a penguin with beads
around its neck.

On the other side, in the wild darkness,
the shadows of people
hang suspended among branches,
then fall: a boar,
a wolf, another one a tiger,
and they drink oil and vinegar in the river,

and iron dolls emerge
onto the shore.

--Martin Camaj (tr Leonard Fox)