TRANSPOSITION

With that same imprecise smile in his eyes

he approaches, eager to show us from the window

the trees, the well, the flower-beds, the statues in the garden,

and even the five wet benches. And yet, the moment

the younger gardener appeared before the chrysanthemums,

bare-chested, with a sack of seed, he then

immediately closed the curtains and showed us a large

rusted nail on the wall from which the picture no longer hung,

with its two naked women, the guard, and the gallows.