scattering white doves.
~Wislawa Szymborska
Redhill Garden by Gareth Williams
Poems by Nobel prizewinning Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska today. The endings to her poems make me give happy sighs, so I hope you click through to read the rest! (I also posted one of her ekphrastic poems for Art Thursday, if you want to scroll down a wee bit.)
A Note
by Wislawa Szymborska
Life is the only way
to get covered in leaves,
catch your breath on sand,
rise on wings;
to be a dog,
or stroke its warm fur;
to tell pain
from everything it's not;
to squeeze inside events,
dawdle in views,
to seek the least of all possible mistakes;
read the rest here
The Crest (Tatry Mountains, Poland) by Leszek Kozlowski
*******
Love at First Sight
by Wislawa Szymborska
They’re both convinced
that a sudden passion joined them.
Such certainty is beautiful,
but uncertainty is more beautiful still.
Since they’d never met before, they’re sure
that there’d been nothing between them.
But what’s the word from the streets, staircases, hallways—
perhaps they’ve passed by each other a million times?
read the rest here
*******
A 'Thank You' Note
by Wislawa Szymborska
There is much I owe
to those I do not love.
read the rest here
*******
Buffy Silverman has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Buffy!
Such a beautiful way with words and thoughts. I enjoyed these, Tabatha. Thank-you for sharing - and linking through to the conclusion. :) And thank-you also for co-ordinating the poetry swap, which was a joy yet again! A gift from you to the poetry community. Wishing you a joyous Christmas and New Year.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these - I love all of them, but especially the first. I have to read more of her work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts from her and her poems, Tabatha. I do love "to keep on not knowing
ReplyDeletesomething important." perhaps one thing we need to consider in our lives? Thank you for the poem swapping, ever a joy, & Happy Holidays to you all!
These are wonderful--I laughed and related to these lines:
ReplyDelete"to stumble upon a stone,
end up soaked in one downpour or another,
mislay your keys in the grass;
and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes;
and to keep on not knowing
something important."
My life exactly! Thanks for introducing a new (to me) poet.
She offers us casually, treasures uncovered that are laying there before us. Mary Oliver reminds me a bit of Szymborska's writing. Thanks for introducing her up to me. Such beauty in the ekphrastic poem "Vermeer–" I hope she is right. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDelete"Love at First Sight" is absolutely marvelous. So much to think about--chance, accident, space, time, etc. Thanks for sharing this, Tabatha.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful introduction to a new poet to me. The idea of translating beautiful words into another language in the right way--well, it's daunting to me. I love the idea that Chance plays with people until it decides to become destiny. What a wonderful image.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the super sweet Imperfect video. It is aDORable. What do you think your NEXT anthology will be? Wishing you lots of words in 2019!
It seemed quite ironic to read that last poem on a site where every inch of space was filled with a crowd of strangers -- flashing/flashy ads that were the "those I do not love" of the poem. Even more than if the poem had been surrounded by the blue of your blog or the white of a blank page, I had to concentrate on the meaning behind every negative in the poem.
ReplyDeleteI need that "Note" in my life. Life is the only way.
ReplyDeleteThere is no working around it.
Wishing you a merry and bright Solstice season, Tabatha!
Thank you, Tabatha, for sharing these lovely poems. I was not familiar with Szymborska, but now I'm a fan!
ReplyDeleteI especially like "Love at first sight"--it's so interesting what we notice--and when!