Hope this isn’t obnoxious, but I really liked this poem.
Try to Praise the Mutilated World
(Adam Zagajewski)
Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June’s long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You’ve seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.
Zagajewski could never be obnoxious. Do you read this poet? Do you read any of the other Polish “poets of ruin”? This is a great, great poem.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/09/04/adam-zagajewski-the-poet-of-9-11.html
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This is the first poem I’ve read by him – but now I’m going to have to try to find one or two of his books. I’ve read some Milosz but not all that much. (I found this Zagajewski poem in a book of poems about loss.) I’ll pick up my Milosz book again too. 🙂
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