Poem for 9/23/22 - A Note by Wislawa Szymborska

 From my friend Rowan:

A Note 

By Wislawa Szymborska

 

Life is the only way

to get covered in leaves,

catch your breath on sand,

rise on wings;

 

to be a dog,

or stroke its warm fur;

 

to tell pain

from everything it’s not;

 

to squeeze inside events,

dawdle in views,

to seek the least of all possible mistakes;

 

An extraordinary chance

to remember for a moment

a conversation held with the lamp switched off;

 

and if only once

to stumble on a stone,

end up soaked in one downpour or another,

 

mislay your keys in the grass;

and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes;

 

and to keep on not knowing

something important