Words in Poems: Zbigniew Herbert

I Would Like to Describe

Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998)

I would like to describe the simplest emotion 

joy or sadness 

but not as others do 

reaching for shafts of rain or sun 

I would like to describe a light 

which is being born in me 

but I know it does not resemble 

any star 

for it is not so bright 

not so pure 

and is uncertain 

I would like to describe courage 

without dragging behind me a dusty lion 

and also anxiety 

without shaking a glass full of water 

to put it another way 

I would give all metaphors 

in return for one word 

drawn out of my breast like a rib 

for one word 

contained within the boundaries 

of my skin 

but apparently this is not possible 

and just to say -- I love 

I run around like mad 

picking up handfuls of birds 

and my tenderness 

which after all is not made of water 

asks the water for a face 

and anger 

different from fire 

borrows from it 

a loquacious tongue 

so is blurred 

so is blurred 

in me 

what white-haired gentleman 

separated once and for all 

and said 

this in the subject 

this is the object 

we fall asleep 

with one hand under our head 

and with the other in a mound of planets 

our feet abandon us 

and taste the earth 

with their tiny roots 

which next morning 

we tear out painfully