Letter From a Reader by Adam Zagajewski, Translated by Clare Cavanagh
Letter From a Reader
Adam Zagajewski
Translated by Clare CavanaghToo much about death,
too many shadows.
Write about an average day,
the yearning for order.Take the school bell
as your model
of moderation,
even scholarship.Too much death,
too much
dark radiance.Take a look,
crowds packed
in cramped stadiums
sing songs of hatred.Too much music,
too little harmony, peace,
reason.Write about those moments
when friendship’s footbridges
seem more enduring
than despair.Write about love,
long evenings,
the dawn,
the trees,
about the endless patience
of the light.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Without End: New and Selected Poems by Adam Zagajewski, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)
ABOUT ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI
Adam Zagajewski was born in Lvov, Poland, in 1945; as an infant he was relocated with his family to western Poland. He lived in Berlin for a couple of years, moved to France in 1982, and taught at universities in the United States, including the University of Houston and the University of Chicago. Zagajewski wrote in Polish, but many of his books of poetry and essays have been translated into English. His prose collections include Two Cities: On Exile, History and the Imagination (1995)… (more)
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ENDNOTES
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