Aleksandra Szymanska Poems

Reduta Ordona (opowiadanie ajutanta, fragment) ...

Nam strzelać nie kazano - wstąpiłem na działo
I spojrzałem na pole dwieście armat grzmiało
...

I live in a house made of few cards,
no weather will ever surprise me...
If wind blows again, it'll rob me of heart;
rain will wash my brain... Who'll recognize me?
...

‘Auntie, I love this story, but know you can't read it to me,
because there's something wrong, I'm upset by a bee...'
‘Sweetheart, I feel it too - the bee buzzes all day.
I know you suffer more than I do; I promise I'll find a way...
...

Is life just a river meandering through time
on rough or smooth waves’ sinuous symphony?
Can it not straighten its ever winding course,
and bend what’s made straight by the hand of irony?
...

Hymn (Smutno mi, Boże...)

Smutno mi, Boże! - Dla mnie na zachodzie
Rozlałeś tęczę blasków promienistą;
...

I've dispersed one tear, let it pour down like rain.
I have strength - I can't see, but I'll rise again.
I will rise like the sun when the earth opens its eyes,
I will rise, all will change - you will realize...
...

Why should you remember, mention his name?
Who was that guy, what had he done?
He hadn't done that for money and fame,
now credit's been given to the other man...
...

Cranes, cranes what do you hide between the feather of your broad wings?
We hide a story, what we saw; we carry the truth, many things...
Cranes, cranes what is your scream above the empty, lonely field?
That is a secret as dark as the soil under the dirty nails of the guilt...
...

[*] [*] [*] Katyń [*] [*] [*]

Oh, Soldier, betrayed, disgraced!
Your weapon had been taken by the guile side.
...

The cold breath of the world soon will display its odd art
framed in arms of the winds chasing echo down earth’s heart…
It will showcase few bouquets of God’s frozen finger prints
on the window of each house touched by worklace of iced hints…
...