This week’s poem is Try to Praise the Mutilated World by Adam Zagajewski, a Polish poet known for combining the historical and political with the spiritual. This poem is a beautiful reminder that things can be terrible and wonderful at the same time.
Try to Praise the Mutilated World
BY ADAM ZAGAJEWSKI
TRANSLATED BY CLARE CAVANAGH
Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June’s long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of rosé wine.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You’ve seen the refugees going nowhere,
you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.
This is incredibly sad! It is beautifully written. The human spirit is indomitable tho this person, it feels like a man, is holding onto a cherished memory.
I don’t know if I would personally be able to praise the mutilated world, but we certainly do need the contrast between light and dark to be able to savor the light.