IN THE HOUSE A WINDOW

In the house a window
In the window a pot
In the pot a twig
A drowsy woman is knitting booties
Inside her a fish swims without air
But she is content

She smiles as if to her own womb
At shouts in the street
At broken lights
At dark news from the bright box
The woman waits for the inevitable boy
A girl will do as well

-Aigerim Tazhi, (born 1981) Kazakhstan
Translated by J. Kates