The old gardener sees
that feet slip on
the ladder
that leads to the top
and he sees
that even in an abyss
where it’s so easy to fall into
climbing begins
again

The old gardener
prompts:
if a situation
is a tense one
rose cannot be made
of wax
and the apples from
the forbidden tree
don’t always turn
into red lanterns

This is a short, lovely and really obscure poem, which I’m posting here due to several reasons. First of all, I found Wernerowa’s poetry totally by chance, on a forgotten shelf in a local library, a few feet below Polish Poetry plate, and it turned out that I am the first person who wanted to read it since 1999. Then I translated it into English so, all in all, this poem feels so mine now
The other reason is that the idea of the Gardener as a wise, elderly man, who seems to know much more than an average human being and is closely connected with the Nature, immediately made me think of “The Beekeeper” (despite the fact that The Beekeeper is a woman). And… even though I’m not certain how to interpret some metaphors here (or maybe because of this ), I can’t help loving it.

(big thanks to Samke, who taught me the trick of posting very long things )

Love,
G

Translation from Polish to English by Stanisław Barańczak (the greatest translator ever )

Cat in an empty apartment

Dying - you can't do that to a cat.
Since what can a cat do
in an empty apartment?
Climb the walls?
Rub up against the furniture?
Nothing seems different here,
but nothing is the same.
Nothing has been moved,
but there's more space.
And at nighttime no lamps are lit.

Footsteps on the staircase,
but they're new ones.
The hand that puts fish on the saucer
has changed, too.

Something doesn't start
at its usual time.
Something doesn't happen
as it should.
Someone was always, always here,
then suddenly disappeared
and stubbornly stays disappeared.

Every closet has been examined.
Every shelf has been explored.
Excavations under the carpet turned up nothing.
A commandment was even broken,
papers scattered everywhere.
What remains to be done.
Just sleep and wait.

Just wait till he turns up,
just let him show his face.
Will he ever get a lesson
on what not to do to a cat.
Sidle toward him
as if unwilling
and ever so slow
on visibly offended paws,
and no leaps or squeals at least to start.

Guys... don't ask me what I've done to make my blog posts appear in full length, because I really don't know... LOL! they just did it

Love & hugs, Gealach (confused...)
--
Hmm I see it happened everywhere on this website. So now I'm only hoping it wasn't my fault, hehe

Tomorrow I'm leaving for several days, so this is my last post this year:
I wish all of you a wonderful Christmas time. If you only can; spend it with your families in a peaceful and warm atmosphere. Hope we'll all meet here after the New Years Day, everyone rest, relaxed and full of fresh energy.
Above, there are Christmas wishes in the Polish language. See you guys and take care!
Love, gealach