E ARRIVED thus little by little to nakedness,

 one by one we took off the famous problems,

the colorful, the cherry, the purple of the charms,

and only now, although some kind of fear even before,

some presage, told us what waits for us,

yet, only now, us, the unclothed,

saw, that we are dust. Awareness of a miserable

wisdom. Poverty of today. Inadvertence of yesterday.

Our work now is to elevate it into a triumph.

Σοφία

Ἐφθάσαμε ἔτσι λίγο λίγο στὴν γυμνότητα,

ἕνα ἕνα ἀποδυθήκαμε τὰ περίφημα προβλήματα,

τὰ πολύχρωμα, τὰ βύσσινα, τὰ πορφυρὰ τῶν γοητειῶν,

καὶ μόνον τώρα, μολονότι κάποιος φόβος κι' ἀπὸ πρίν,

κάποιο προμήνυμα, μᾶς ἔλεγαν τί μᾶς προσμένει,

ὅμως, μονάχα τώρα, οἱ γυμνωμένοι

εἴδαμεν, ὅτι χοῦς ἐσμέν. Ἄθλιας ἐπίγνωση

σοφίας. Ἔνδεια σημερινή. Βραδύνοια τῆς χθές.

Δουλειά μας τώρα νὰ τὴν ἀναγάγομε σὲ θρίαμβο.

Cf. CAVAFY : As much as you can, Finished