A photograph from years ago—my parents
in front of Drottningholm Palace
near Stockholm.
It’s probably September,
month of partings and rapture.
My father in his tie,
my mother’s scarf
(elegance pre-1968).
They watch me closely,
fondly, with concern.
And higher, over them,
clouds, indifferent, deep blue,
and a little sun that illuminates
the tourists’ silhouettes. Perhaps
it wants to enter their hearts.
—Adam Zagajewski
(Translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh)
Adam Zagajewski is a major Polish poet, essayist, and novelist. His translator, Clare Cavanagh, teaches Slavic Literature at Northwestern University.
