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    Eternal Enemies: Poems
    Eternal Enemies: Poems
    Eternal Enemies: Poems
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    Eternal Enemies: Poems

    By Adam Zagajewski and Clare Cavanagh

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    About this ebook

    The highway became the Red Sea.
    We moved through the storm like a sheer valley.
    You drove; I looked at you with love.

    —from "Storm"

    One of the most gifted and readable poets of his time, Adam Zagajewski is proving to be a contemporary classic. Few writers in either poetry or prose can be said to have attained the lucid intelligence and limpid economy of style that have become a matter of course with Zagajewski. It is these qualities, combined with his wry humor, gentle skepticism, and perpetual sense of history's dark possibilities, that have earned him a devoted international following. This collection, gracefully translated by Clare Cavanagh, finds the poet reflecting on place, language, and history. Especially moving here are his tributes to writers, friends known in person or in books—people such as Milosz and Sebald, Brodsky and Blake—which intermingle naturally with portraits of family members and loved ones. Eternal Enemies is a luminous meeting of art and everyday life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateOct 28, 2014
    ISBN9781466884243
    Eternal Enemies: Poems
    Author

    Adam Zagajewski

    Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021) was born in Lvov, Poland. His books include Tremor; Canvas; Mysticism for Beginners; Without End; Eternal Enemies; Unseen Hand; Asymmetry; Solidarity, Solitude; Two Cities; Another Beauty; A Defense of Ardor; and Slight Exaggeration—all published by FSG. He lived in Chicago and Kraków.

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      Book preview

      Eternal Enemies - Adam Zagajewski

      I

      STAR

      I returned to you years later,

      gray and lovely city,

      unchanging city

      buried in the waters of the past.

      I’m no longer the student

      of philosophy, poetry, and curiosity,

      I’m not the young poet who wrote

      too many lines

      and wandered in the maze

      of narrow streets and illusions.

      The sovereign of clocks and shadows

      has touched my brow with his hand,

      but still I’m guided by

      a star by brightness

      and only brightness

      can undo or save me.

      EN ROUTE

      1. WITHOUT BAGGAGE

      To travel without baggage, sleep in the train

      on a hard wooden bench,

      forget your native land,

      emerge from small stations

      when a gray sky rises

      and fishing boats head to sea.

      2. IN BELGIUM

      It was drizzling in Belgium

      and the river wound between hills.

      I thought, I’m so imperfect.

      The trees sat in the meadows

      like priests in green cassocks.

      October was hiding in the weeds.

      No, ma’am, I said,

      this is the nontalking compartment.

      3. A HAWK CIRCLES ABOVE THE HIGHWAY

      It will be disappointed if it swoops down

      on sheet iron, on gas,

      on a tape of tawdry music,

      on our narrow hearts.

      4. MONT BLANC

      It shines from afar, white and cautious,

      like a lantern for shadows.

      5. SEGESTA

      On the meadow a vast temple—

      a wild animal

      open to the sky.

      6. SUMMER

      Summer was gigantic, triumphant—

      and our little car looked lost

      on the road going to

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