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“Funny” by Anna Kamieńska 🇵🇱 (12 Apr 1920 – 10 May 1986)
Translated from the Polish by Tomasz Krzeszowski
What’s it like to be human
asked the bird
​
I don’t really know
to be imprisoned in one’s skin
but reach for infinity
to be captive to a particle of time
but to touch eternity
to be hopelessly uncertain
and a fool of hope
to be a needle of trust
and a handful of heat
to breathe in air
choke without a word
to be aflame
and have a nest of ashes
to eat bread
and be full up with hunger
to die without love
and to love through death
​
It’s funny said the bird
flying off into air lightly