Halina Poswiatowska
I broke off the love branch
it died I buried it in the earth
and look
my garden blossomed
you can’t kill love
if you bury it in earth
it grows out
if you throw it into the air
it becomes the wings of leaves
if you throw it into water
it flashes back in a fish’s gills
if into the night
it shines
so I decided to bury it in my heart
but the heart of my love was a house
my heart opened its heart doors
and its heart walls rang out with singing
my heart danced on the tips of its toes
so I buried love in my head
and people asked
why my head was flower shaped
why my eyes shone like two stars
and why my lips were redder than dawn
I grasped love, to break it
but it was supple it wove my hands together
and now, my hands tied together with love,
people ask whose prisoner I am
—Translated from the Polish by Sarah Luczaj
