Light From Another World

One life has passed
I passed over what hurt the most
in silence
I forgot about the changes
they grew pale like stars at dawn
shining in leafless trees
Light from another world
embraced me

A hyacinth’s keen scent
And nothing- like a stone thrown into water
nothing- like water turned to stone
frozen by the morning cold

One life has passed

I passed over silence in silence
I forgot
on this planet where it was so hard
to square endless otherness
with my own brief time

A steep staircase opened beneath me
leading to a tunnel underground
where letters
on the wall spelled
the saving phrase: “Way Out.”

Mieczyslaw Jastrun
(Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh)