David Jackson

First Love – Poem by Wislawa Szymborska
They say

the first love is the most important.

That’s very romantic

but it’s not the case with me.

There was something between us yet there wasn’t.

It transpired and expired.

My hands don’t tremble,

when I stumble upon small mementos

or a stack of letters wrapped in twine

—not even a ribbon.

Our only meeting after all these years

is a conversation between two chairs

at a cold table.

Other loves

still breathe deeply within me.

This one lacks the breath to sigh.

But still, just the way it is,

it can do what the rest are not yet able to do:

unremembered

not even dreamt of

it accustoms me to death.

Translated by Joanna Trzeciak

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Miracle Fair – Poem by Wislawa Szymborska
Commonplace miracle:

that so many commonplace miracles happen.

An ordinary miracle:

in the dead of night

the barking of invisible dogs.

One miracle out of many:

a small, airy cloud

yet it can block a large and heavy moon.

Several miracles in one:

an alder tree reflected in the water,

and that it’s backwards left to right

and that it grows there, crown down

and never reaches the bottom,

even though the water is shallow.

An everyday miracle:

winds weak to moderate

turning gusty in storms.

First among equal miracles:

cows are cows.

Second to none:

just this orchard

from just that seed.

A miracle without a cape and top hat:

scattering white doves.

A miracle, for what else could you call it:

today the sun rose at three-fourteen

and will set at eight-o-one.

A miracle, less surprising than it should be:

even though the hand has fewer than six fingers,

it still has more than four.

A miracle, just take a look around:

the world is everywhere.

An additional miracle, as everything is additional:

the unthinkable

is thinkable.

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Poems by Wislawa Szymborska
Poetry Wislawa Symborska
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