In early May, I came across this poem by Anna Świrszczyńska (also known as Anna Swir) on Poetry Is Not a Luxury’s Instagram account.
Our two silences
Silence flows into me and out of me washing my past away. I am pure already, waiting for you. Bring me your silence. They will doze off nestled in each other’s arms, our two silences. Translated from Polish by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan.
I like responding to poems that light me up, that refuse to leave me for some reason. I have started a project of what I call “after poems”. You know, the kind of poems that have a dedication underneath the title that begins with the word “after”.
I usually interpret the poems on my own terms, with little or no knowledge of the poet’s intentions or circumstances. I’ll start a conversation with it, interrogate it, or use it as a springboard to form my own images and thoughts around the theme that I discovered under the lines.
I thought about my dear friend that I’m practising relationship anarchy with. This is what I wrote:
Our two silences
after Anna Swir
The breakfast set out on the table might have allergens, and that’s how life is lived, always one step away from chaos. I do long for the bundled up silence, but you are drunk and I am nervous, and that’s just how we are. If you bring me silence one day, I will hold it like an egg. I like to use the same title. I think it strengthens the link to the original poem. Any thoughts welcome.