tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post8264099359100688850..comments2024-03-27T23:49:45.766-04:00Comments on Progressive Eruptions: Sunday Night PoetryShaw Kenawehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-66196276826884028672014-10-27T09:49:11.824-04:002014-10-27T09:49:11.824-04:00She's one of my favorite poets. Thanks for po...She's one of my favorite poets. Thanks for posting this.Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-38220450297612331812014-10-26T23:08:20.891-04:002014-10-26T23:08:20.891-04:00On Death, without Exaggeration
It can't take ...On Death, without Exaggeration<br /><br />It can't take a joke,<br />find a star, make a bridge.<br />It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming,<br />building ships, or baking cakes.<br /><br />In our planning for tomorrow,<br />it has the final word,<br />which is always beside the point.<br /><br />It can't even get the things done<br />that are part of its trade:<br />dig a grave,<br />make a coffin,<br />clean up after itself.<br /><br />Preoccupied with killing,<br />it does the job awkwardly,<br />without system or skill.<br />As though each of us were its first kill.<br /><br />Oh, it has its triumphs,<br />but look at its countless defeats,<br />missed blows,<br />and repeat attempts!<br /><br />Sometimes it isn't strong enough<br />to swat a fly from the air.<br />Many are the caterpillars<br />that have outcrawled it.<br /><br />All those bulbs, pods,<br />tentacles, fins, tracheae,<br />nuptial plumage, and winter fur<br />show that it has fallen behind<br />with its halfhearted work.<br /><br />Ill will won't help<br />and even our lending a hand with wars and coups d'etat<br />is so far not enough.<br /><br />Hearts beat inside eggs.<br />Babies' skeletons grow.<br />Seeds, hard at work, sprout their first tiny pair of leaves<br />and sometimes even tall trees fall away.<br /><br />Whoever claims that it's omnipotent<br />is himself living proof<br />that it's not.<br /><br />There's no life<br />that couldn't be immortal<br />if only for a moment.<br /><br />Death<br />always arrives by that very moment too late.<br /><br />In vain it tugs at the knob<br />of the invisible door.<br />As far as you've come<br />can't be undone.<br /><br />--- Wislawa SzymborskaDucky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.com