The Sea Shell

I have hidden inside a sea shell

but forgotten in which.

Now daily I dive,

filtering the sea through my fingers,

to find myself.

Sometimes I think

a giant fish has swallowed me.

Looking for it everywhere I want to make sure

it will get me completely.

The sea-bed attracts me, and

I’m repelled by millions

of sea shells that all look alike.

Help, I am one of them.

If only I knew, which.

How often I’ve gone straight up

to one of them, saying: That’s me.

Only, when I prised it open

it was empty.

Copyright Credit: “The Sea Shell” from Selected Poems by Marin Sorescu, translated by Michael Hamburger. Published in 1983 by Bloodaxe Books. www.bloodaxebooks.com

Source: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 1983)