Reading Milosz

I read your poetry once more,

poems written by a rich man, knowing all,

and by a beggar, homeless,

an emigrant, alone.

You always wanted to go

beyond poetry, above it, soaring,

but also lower, to where our region

begins, modest and timid.

Sometimes your tone

transforms us for a moment,

we believe—truly—

that every day is sacred,

that poetry—how to put it? —

makes life rounder,

fuller, prouder, unashamed

of perfect formulation.

But evening arrives,

I lay my book aside,

and the city's ordinary din resumes—

somebody coughs, someone cries and curses.

Copyright Credit: Adam Zagajewski, "Reading Milosz" from Eternal Enemies. Copyright © 2008 by Adam Zagajewski. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC, http://us.macmillan.com/fsg. All rights reserved.

Caution: Users are warned that this work is protected under copyright laws and downloading is strictly prohibited. The right to reproduce or transfer the work via any medium must be secured with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Source: Eternal Enemies (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)