Teenager
Me — a teenager?
If she suddenly stood, here, now, before me,
would I need to treat her as near and dear,
although she's strange to me, and distant?
Shed a tear, kiss her brow
for the simple reason
that we share a birthdate?
So many dissimilarities between us
that only the bones are likely still the same,
the cranial vault, the eye sockets.
Since her eyes seem a little larger,
her eyelashes are longer, she's taller,
and the whole body is tightly sheathed
in smooth, unblemished skin.
Relatives and friends still link us, it is true,
but in her world nearly all are living,
while in mine almost no one survives
from that shared circle.
We differ so profoundly,
talk and think about completely different things.
She knows next to nothing — but with a doggedness deserving better causes.
I know much more — but not for sure.
She shows me poems,
written in a clear and careful script
I haven't used for years.
I read the poems, read them.
Well, maybe that one
if it were shorter
and touched up in a couple of places.
The rest do not bode well.
The conversation stumbles.
On her pathetic watch
time is still cheap and unsteady.
On mine it's far more precious and precise.
Nothing in parting, a fixed smile
and no emotion.
Only when she vanishes,
leaving her scarf in her haste.
A scarf of genuine wool,
in colored stripes
crocheted for her
by our mother.
I've still got it.
Polish poet, Nobel Prize winner (1923–2012)
Wisława Szymborska-Włodek (2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist and translator. She was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was bestowed the title of Lady of the Order of the White Eagle in 2011. She was a member of the Polish Writers Association (1989) and the Polish Academy of Skills (1995).
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alternative Names:
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska
•
Szymborska
•
Wislawa Szymborska
From Wikidata (CC0)
DESPEDIDA DE UN PAISAJE
No le reprocho a la primavera
que llegue de nuevo.
No me quejo de que cumpla
como todos los años
con sus obligaciones.
Comprendo que mi tristeza
no frenara la hierba.
Si los tallos vacilan
será sólo por el viento.
No me causa dolor
que los sotos de alisos
recuperen su murmullo.
Me doy por enterada
de que, como si vivieras,
la orilla de cierto lago
es tan bella como era.
No le guardo rencor
a la vista por la vista
de una bahía deslumbrante.
Puedo incluso imaginarme
que otros, no nosotros,
están sentados ahora mismo
sobre el abedul derribado.
Respeto su derecho
a reír, a susurrar
y a quedarse felices en silencio.
Supongo incluso
que los une el amor
y que él la abraza a ella
con brazos llenos de vida.
Algo nuevo, como un trino,
comienza a gorgotear entre los juncos.
De veras los deseo
que lo oigan.
No exijo ningún cambio
de las olas a la orilla,
ligeras o perezosas,
pero no obedientes.
Nada le pido
a las aguas junto al bosque,
a veces esmeralda,
a veces zafiro,
a veces negras.
Una cosa no acepto.
Volver a ese lugar.
Renuncio al privilegio
de la presencia.
Some People
Some people flee some other people.
In some country under a sun
and some clouds.
They abandon something close to all they’ve got,
sown fields, some chickens, dogs,
mirrors in which fire now preens.
Their shoulders bear pitchers and bundles.
The emptier they get, the heavier they grow.
What happens quietly: someone’s dropping from exhaustion.
What happens loudly: someone’s bread is ripped away,
someone tries to shake a limp child back to life.
Always another wrong road ahead of them,
always another wrong bridge
across an oddly reddish river.
Around them, some gunshots, now nearer, now farther away,
above them a plane seems to circle.
Some invisibility would come in handy,
some grayish stoniness,
or, better yet, some nonexistence
for a shorter or a longer while.
Something else will happen, only where and what.
Someone will come at them, only when and who,
in how many shapes, with what intentions.
If he has a choice,
maybe he won’t be the enemy
and will leave them to some sort of life.
هردو بر اين باورند
كه حسي ناگهاني آنها را به هم پيوند داده.
چنين اطميناني زيباست،
اما ترديد زيبا تر است.
چون قبلا همديگر را نمي شناختند،
گمان مي بردند هرگز چيزي ميان آنها نبوده.
اما نظر خيابان ها، پله ها و راهروهايي
كه آن دو مي توانسته اند از سال ها پيش
از كنار هم گذشته باشند، در اين باره چيست؟
دوست داشتم از آنها بپرسم
آيا به ياد نمي آورند
شايد درون دري چرخان
زماني روبروي هم؟
يك ببخشيد در ازدحام مردم؟
يك صداي اشتباه گرفته ايد در گوشي تلفن؟
- ولي پاسخشان را مي دانم.
- نه، چيزي به ياد نمي آورند.
بسيار شگفت زده مي شدند
اگر مي دانستند، كه ديگر مدت هاست
بازيچه اي در دست اتفاق بوده اند.
هنوز كاملا آماده نشده
كه براي آنها تبديل به سرنوشتي شود،
آنها را به هم نزديك مي كرد دور مي كرد،
جلو راهشان را مي گرفت
و خنده ي شيطانيش را فرو مي خورد و
كنار مي جهيد.
علائم و نشانه هايي بوده
هر چند ناخوانا.
شايد سه سال پيش
يا سه شنبه ي گذشته
برگ درختي از شانه ي يكيشان
به شانه ي ديگري پرواز كرده؟
چيزي بوده كه يكي آن را گم كرده
ديگري آن را يافته و برداشته.
از كجا معلوم توپي در بوته هاي كودكي نبوده باشد؟
دستگيره ها و زنگ درهايي بوده
كه يكيشان لمس كرده و در فاصله اي كوتاه آن ديگري.
چمدان هايي كنار هم در انبار.
شايد يك شب هر دو يك خواب را ديده باشند،
كه بلافاصله بعد از بيدار شدن محو شده.
بالاخره هر آغازي
فقط ادامه ايست
و كتاب حوادث
هميشه از نيمه ي آن باز مي شود.