The Snail by Marin Sorescu
The snail carefully seals his eyes
With wax
And tucks his chin tightly to his chest.
He stares
Into himself.
Above him
Is his shell—
His perfect creation,
Which disgusts him—
Arrayed about the shell
Is the world,
All the rest of the world,
Distributed everywhere
According to irrefutable laws,
Which disgust him—
And in the center of this
Cosmological disgust
Is himself—
Snail—
Which disgusts him.
translated by Adam J. Sorkin and Lidia Vianu
