Paata Shamugia Official

I was told by my friend,

“Everything has already been written.”

So I decided to write about Nothing,

the beautiful Nothing,

Nothing that can attract you,

though I must confess

this dogmatism is by no means limited.

As I go to work and think about Nothing

my memory stops functioning

when confronting something that’s full of forgetfulness,

that couldn’t possibly be Nothing,

but it is!

It is so, because in the beginning there was Nothing,

and Nothing was with Nothing,

and Nothing was Nothing.

Nothing flourished in Nothing and Nothing could obtain it.

On the other hand, there is the existence of Nothing—

that has suppressed Nothing with Nothing—

we ought to remember this,

though, at the same time, there is Nothing

that Nothing cares about,

including the dichotomy.

Anyway, that’s Nothing to worry about.

A poet must not forget—

to write about Nothing means Nothing from the start,

it is a Meta-Nothing, Nothing more

or less.

You can easily imagine Nothing

because it is Nothing

or even not imagining it at all

as it is Nothing.

Translated by Manana Matiashvili and Kristian Carlson