Blind Man's Bluff

They covered his eyes with a scarf
and spun him around, he loved that game.
Dizzy from the dark, he reeled ecstatic
between his cousins, three Graces
squealing with laughter. They laughed at him, his euphoria,
which also was theirs. He caught them one by one,
but guessed systematically wrong, and the party continued
the entire afternoon. He was happy in his darkness,
tireless and bold, a line had been crossed,
he touched their blushing faces;
his hands were happy. And he wished only
to go on when they mercilessly loosened the bow
and pulled the scarf from his eyes. He stood bewildered
on the brink of tears, shocked by the light
that for a moment turned him completely blind.

Translation Martin Aitken
© Niels Hav