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Poetry

Fragments from the year 1989

By Ryszard Krynicki
Translated from Polish by Alissa Valles

. . .

Mute,
my head covered,
I stand with a pebble on my lips
in front of a wall of fire
and oblivion

counted
among the helpers
of death

. . .

Take the ash from me,
take the weight from me it’s not
my fault, let me carry
to the other shore

of the wound: penitence,

pity

. . .

Dawn, the color of the Seine,
color of wormwood and gall

English

. . .

Mute,
my head covered,
I stand with a pebble on my lips
in front of a wall of fire
and oblivion

counted
among the helpers
of death

. . .

Take the ash from me,
take the weight from me it’s not
my fault, let me carry
to the other shore

of the wound: penitence,

pity

. . .

Dawn, the color of the Seine,
color of wormwood and gall

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