Walls - C.P. Cavafy

Thoughtless, pitiless, indecent,
they put up high, thick walls around me.

And now I sit here and despair.
I think of nothing else: this condition feeds upon my mind—

I had so many things to do outside.
How did I not pay attention when they were building the walls?

But of their building I never heard a noise or sound.
I hadn't a clue they were closing me off from the world outside.

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C.P. Cavafy (1863 – 1933) Greece (born Egypt)
Translated by George Economou