With the new director
I choose the offensive
prepared to sacrifice

myself and, like Samson
let my enemies perish
with me

I haven't glossed over
the nonsense of our paperwork
nor praised ourselves

for the perseverance with which
we built the archive. It's precisely
we, who averse to prestige

we, the vulnerable, the
misfits, who can do it -
with healthy reluctance

Don't touch us
don't shave our hair:
the temple will collapse!

Don't touch us, we know
how far we can go
at work, we know
what it's like to live

with each other, with a lost
butterfly, with stray cats and
outsiders, here and outside
the office, we know

what's wrong
with promotions and pastimes, and
what's missing
in community spirit, we know

that you shouldn't ask us
to build a career or
get the accolades
with humorous lectures

We know that only
thorough work is sufficient -
work without juiciness
and premature conclusions

Describing the world
as I understand it
perhaps as I wish it to be

Observing myself, the world
and the people who hold their own
among themselves, so intently
that I remember it

and can pass it on as if
the readers are getting a view
into them, into me, and into themselves
seeing how little it means

the work, the achievements, and even
less so the erudition of the show-offs
and the self-importance of the managers
and society