54

I see thee pregnant with love like branch of jasmine bend with dew Surprised by the attraction Pulling thee towards damp earth Ready to receive thee with joy Thee carry our love child Conceived with gentle kisses and touch of trembling hands And I tremble anticipating The mystery of thy heart Holding our destiny Will

49

Once upon a time a spirit lived in a forestShe was a free spirit loved by animals, insects and plantsThe spirit made the forest a very happy place to be One day a man came to the forestHe saw the free spirit and fell in love with herHe tried to possess her but without success

45

Yes, I left like a thief, quietlyNo goodbye waving, no kissJust run, and no looking backBut my soul was caught in the doorTearing painfully in halvesLike a piece of clothForever making me unwholeHow sorry I am, for the pain I caused The ship flew me beyondThe pillars of your worldWhere only love could followYes, I

44

She rescued me from a desolate shoreOn which I shipwrecked my Calypso dreamSeeing the sadness of the past I woreShaking with cold from the winter stream She put her arms around my breast, her lipsBlew wind to sails and ships That brought me here – left empty, with kissShe lifted the Calypso’s curse, and thisIs

38

it is the feast of God’s mercy andbetween multitude of splendid columnsone supporting all sits the Pope this ‘I’ would like to be there with a listening crowdamong women fanning themselves with prayer books and believing in a merciful God it is a simple mass without the magnificence of old daysall in white, framed by

35

early morning this ‘I’ left his car in a garage at Novogrodzka Street and went for a stroll on a riverbank it was a winter’s frosty morningwith sun already high in treetopsamong whiteness highlighted by wood under a clear blue sky dotted with cirrostratusmarches slowly the river elbowing floe against banksparading tiny crests dressed in

34

Surrounded by news – dire,coming somewhere from beyondwhich is the world,the whole of delight and misery, withexpensive cars parked on quiet, clean streets withpalms and a mountain or sea view as well as withaffected by cholera peoplesitting among rabble of a stricken cityall in the same bucket of mind,the strange disparity not so obvious,such disconnected

33

again like in my youth I stroll the streetsmindlessly browsing colorful glitterwalking to nowhere, alone among peoplerunning away from the place I sleepfull of strangers with whom I live I mourn lost loving embraceI mourn lost presence for meI am again unknown, undesired shapetaking a view from the impatient I am carrying with me my

32

People are coming to a church for an evening massIt is a country church without taste or style They mostly come on their bikesOld women wheeling slowly to a fenceWhere they padlock them with rusty chains It is evening and sun is chilling the sky redThe bells rung few minutes ago calling them Like a

31

Hatred divides better than the Berlin WallLast longer, and no one is able to jump itIt is guarded by like minded inmatesUnited in the communion of vengeance,Everyday we stand under this wall shouting insults Hatred is stronger than our dreams about freedom,It traps us in place in true darkness, No!, there is no other way