I Dream of Classifying…

I dreamed of classifying
Good and Evil, like the wise men
classify butterflies:
I dreamed of pinning down Good and Evil
in the dark velvet
of a glass box…
Under the white
butterfly, a sign that read: “GOOD.”
Under the black
butterfly, a sign that read: “EVIL.”
But the white butterfly
wasn't Good, nor was the black butterfly
Evil… And between my two butterflies,
flying fresh, golden, infinite,
all the butterflies on earth!...

—Translated by Ilan Stavans