milosz poem

Dreams of RedDreams of Red Posts: 203
edited August 2005 in Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
To My Daimonian


II

My daimonian it is certain I could not have lived differently.
I would have perished if not for you. Your incantation
Would resound in my ear, fill me,
And I could only repeat it, instead of thinking
About my bad character, the decline of the world,
Or about a lost laundry ticket.
And it seems that while others loved,
Strove, hated, despaired,
I have only been busy with listening intently
To your unclear notes, to change them into words.
I had to accept my fate, called today karna,
For it was as it was, though I did not choose it--
And get up every day to honor work,
Even if there is no guilt of mine in it and no merit.
--czeslaw milosz
i'm a thief... and a liar...

see Ed's church?--he's breathing fire.....
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • edeneden Posts: 407
    To My Daimonian


    II

    My daimonian it is certain I could not have lived differently.
    I would have perished if not for you. Your incantation
    Would resound in my ear, fill me,
    And I could only repeat it, instead of thinking
    About my bad character, the decline of the world,
    Or about a lost laundry ticket.
    And it seems that while others loved,
    Strove, hated, despaired,
    I have only been busy with listening intently
    To your unclear notes, to change them into words.
    I had to accept my fate, called today karna,
    For it was as it was, though I did not choose it--
    And get up every day to honor work,
    Even if there is no guilt of mine in it and no merit.
    --czeslaw milosz


    Breathtaking, thank you.
    Where are you always sneakin' off to dreams...? :)
  • yes i agree eden. thanks to you.

    to answer your question... some body has to get some sleep around here!
    i'm a thief... and a liar...

    see Ed's church?--he's breathing fire.....
  • Ms. HaikuMs. Haiku Posts: 7,265
    And Yet The Books by Czeslaw Milosz

    And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings,
    That appeared once, still wet
    As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn,
    And, touched, coddled, began to live
    In spite of fires on the horizon, castles blown up,
    Tribes on the march, planets in motion.
    “We are, ” they said, even as their pages
    Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame
    Licked away their letters. So much more durable
    Than we are, whose frail warmth
    Cools down with memory, disperses, perishes.
    I imagine the earth when I am no more:
    Nothing happens, no loss, it’s still a strange pageant,
    Women’s dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley.
    Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born,
    Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
  • what an inspirational post for all...


    flippant
    the pages of past lives and dreams blow in the wind
    on a bench
    painted red but dingy with black residue
    the books of yesterdays gone
    taken from their homes amidst the shelves of classic history
    are carried and read anew
    in days marked by sunlight swarms and moonlit dancing
    where maidens in knee-high skirts twirled before bonfires and brass-bands
    the ideas of yesterdays gone
    revolve



    i might call this: flippant revolve
    change begins with discontent.
  • Thank you muchly, Dreams of Red! :) Czeslaw Milosz is just wonderful!
    Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen
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