Funny by Anna Kamieńska
Funny
Anna Kamieńska
Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak, Claire CavanaghWhat’s it like to be a human
the bird askedI myself don’t know
it’s being held prisoner by your skin
while reaching infinity
being a captive of your scrap of time
while touching eternity
being hopelessly uncertain
and helplessly hopeful
being a needle of frost
and a handful of heat
breathing in the air
and choking wordlessly
it’s being on fire
with a nest made of ashes
eating bread
while filling up on hunger
it’s dying without love
it’s loving through deathThat’s funny said the bird
and flew effortlessly up into the air
ABOUT ANNA KAMIEńSKA
Anna Kamienska was a poet, translator, critic, essayist, and editor. She published numerous collections of her own work and translated poetry from several Slavic languages, as well as sacred texts from Hebrew and Greek. (Source)
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ENDNOTES
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victoria St Ambrogio
Just, yes. And the bird got it right too.