Besnik Mustafaj

The heroes were huge when I was little,
Larger than the figures of their statues.
As I grew
I looked at them
Less and less
From below
Until one day we were eye to eye.
What will happen now?
Will I, or will the heroes, learn
Which of us is superfluous?

[Unë dhe heronjtë, from the volume Legjenda e lindjes sime, Tirana: Ora 2005, p. 20. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]