“I peel potatoes, stroke you on the head, pick up a leaf”

I peel potatoes, stroke you on the head, pick up a leaf
off the ground, turn on the light, light a cigarette, grab
the doorknob, take out a tram ticket


don't be in such a rush, you're greying too fast


run run, as much is yours as stabs in the chest


For the next poem in this sequence, click here.

Share

Poetry From the November 2005 issue: Seoul Searching

Krystyna MilobedzkaKrystyna Milobedzka

Krystyna Milobedzka (1932) is a poet and author of plays for children, as well as a scholar of children's theater. She has published ten volumes of poetry and has been awarded many of the poetry awards of Poland.

» More by this author

Translated from PolishPolish by Alissa VallesAlissa Valles

Alissa Valles is a poet and translator from Russian and Polish. She has worked for the Institute of War Documentation in Amsterdam, where she grew up, and is now working toward a doctorate in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

» More by this translator

This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution by contacting us at info@wordswithoutborders.org.

Subscribe to Words Without Borders

Next Article: Women Writers, Islam, and the Ghost of Zulaikha    Previous Article: “I put off three dreams about father until later”