you learnt how to say forever, even though it was just for a moment. you sought certainty as if on bail ... continue reading
Category: poetry
Here are my poems in English. This link takes you to my book of Polish poetry słowem o niczym.
the american dream
it was amusing to make fun of paying some of the highest prices in the world for poor quality basic necessities, ... continue reading
a bitter man
i have always been a fruit connoisseur and never missed the slightest opportunity to get acquainted with the taste and texture of the unknown. not once. ... continue reading
in pursuit of the reason
i get it; it is more noble to be a widow than a divorcee, and with my broken heart, there is hope. plus, there is also my life ... continue reading
a matter of taste
interesting word, solitude. not quite loneliness, yet already at a distance. a lot of time to learn origami, or collect linguistic bygones, and practise ... continue reading
the fisherman’s daughter (iii)
my father was a fisherman, and you know what that means. no, i do not mean fish for a meal three times a day all week round, ... continue reading
the animal of my body
i fart. yes, i do. but why would i mention this? because nobody does. it is one of those things covered in embarrassed silence, as if we were ... continue reading
the error of my ways
i still have a few books to read, a few works to see, and a few miles to walk. ... continue reading
the fisherman’s daughter (ii)
if you asked me what i wanted for breakfast, i would say a rou an’ a cuppa tea, just like your father used to be (i have heard ... continue reading
the fisherman’s daughter
she appeared out of nowhere in front of my eyes. i watched in disbelief as she, wrapped in a bath towel, vigorously walked down the stone ramp to the beach. ... continue reading
perfectly staged spontaneity
when confronted with the quotidian predicament of a finely forced awakening while still half asleep, i blindly hit the space next to my bed, attempting ... continue reading
long words
it all started when, beyond the essential yes and no, you learned the word perhaps. ... continue reading
a paper man
if you had asked me if i ever spoke in country lyrics, i would have denied it, proudly pointing to the legacy of pindar ... continue reading
imperceptible shades of a drop
what is your name? and why do i get the feeling that you are hiding it in the colour ... continue reading
a wanderer
i wear my past as if it were my heritage. a little tight, worn here and there, tailored to the old fashion, allows me to recognise ... continue reading
what is left is to be a spelling bee
do you remember that scene from tootsie where michael approaches julie at the party with a pick-up line she previously told him ... continue reading
a lost voice
will wuhan find its thucydides or lima its camus? or perhaps a new boccaccio was born somewhere in kolkata or mumbai? because for now, the wind ... continue reading
it is just a rhyme, is it not?
the old adage says that a picture is worth a thousand words, and it is hard to argue with that ... continue reading
the fulcrum
i swapped my fountain pen for a pencil because it never really lets you down, regardless of all the imperfections ... continue reading
a rhetorical question
the concept of small talk is something that has always bewildered me. intuition tells me that it is the inability to face ... continue reading
appearances
i once said i love you and i actually meant it, but i guess in the end, it is not what you say, it is what the expectations are. you can curse, ... continue reading
a gift
i try to remember my name, matityahu, a gift from yahweh, whose existence i do not believe, just to be clear. ... continue reading
the details of the past future
i choose to remember only the details, like the french crystal pendalogues of the chandelier in your father’s study ... continue reading
asymptomatic
some mark the passage of time with birthdays, others with summer holidays or hogmanays. for me, every year, such a marker is a letter ... continue reading
for now, it is enough
do you remember that moment you were waiting for, the one where all that was left was small talk? of course not. you never expected that it could ever happen to you, ... continue reading
before we go
appreciation for a bowl of porridge comes with time. but first, you will learn to cherish all the little stories of your childhood that your parents unintentionally ... continue reading
the paths of glory
i am nothing but a link in the reproduction chain, and still a snob reading elegy ... continue reading
a cut-off phrase might be a sentence
i am still the first draft of a person, not exactly a catch, a puny little jest rather than a strong punchline. ... continue reading
a mournful thought on the occasion of halloween
the first shadow was cast by the doctor of the church. then there was a bishop and two dominicans opposing the sceptical ... continue reading
the insatiable craving for meaning
there are two corpses resting on my kitchen window sill. far apart, the left one belongs ... continue reading
rules of engagement
it is not what she says, it is how she says it. it is not what he hears, ... continue reading
the wound in the scrutinised reality
cutting my lips with the sharp edges of the skin of a piece of honey melon somehow escapes my attention as, ... continue reading
a matter of time
you said i was just like you, only smarter. but believe me, i am not smarter. i am just ... continue reading
a game of collective responsibility
it turns out i am a sexual predator. apparently, i enjoy slipping drugs or extra shots of alcohol into a glass that belongs to a woman in a pub ... continue reading
to rebalance the humours
when the water tastes like vinegar and every sneeze is a suspicion of plague, you look in horror ... continue reading
all but a few
i bet you do not know the town of saugerties, with its lighthouse on the hudson river, opus 40, and the legendary big pink. why would you? ... continue reading
a baffling phenomenon
saying that if it were up to me, smokers would be prosecuted in the same way as attempted ... continue reading
a simple man
i know, i am a bit old school. i like cyndi lauper, and jack lemmon and shirley maclaine ... continue reading
final preparations
standing in the darkness of an empty bedroom, i watch the october night ... continue reading
blunt healing
i was a little blunt in my remarks this morning, maybe even a bit too blunt. the thing is, when someone hurts you under the mantle of love, ... continue reading
the literary myth
if you are following the distant shadow of phaedrus or would like to take part in the symposium, if you find delight ... continue reading
neighbours
sometimes i wonder if you like me writing about you, even if it is not really you, and i am just as elusive. ... continue reading
alive or something like that
they can not see me, girls, or women, i should really say at my age, and with that faraway look in my hazy eyes, why would i be surprised? even you only see the words, ... continue reading
why not?
we met by chance at prospect park. i was wandering around looking for… i am not sure what. you just wanted to lie on your back and photograph the sparse clouds in the sky. ... continue reading
a conversation we never had
sometimes i try to remember what it was like to share secrets in the darkness of moonless nights, but all i see is the shadow of the posts ... continue reading
a brooklyn girl
so you are just a regular brooklyn girl in that striped blouse and armbands, looking thoughtfully into the distance ... continue reading
the city of silent men
wandering through the streets of the city, i pass boisterous people, blissful couples, and whole families laden with daily errands ... continue reading
an elegy on the death of a decent middle-aged man
you know that you have lost when you come to a singles’ night out and there are more than twice as many men as women, the latter being either your daughter’s or your mother’s age. ... continue reading
accidental soulmates
so you are alive and i am dead. you are alive to the sentiment in my stanzas, and i am dead serious about collecting all the new york clichés ... continue reading
all the degrees of separation
they say we are only six people apart. but what does it matter when my voice fades as soon as it reaches the friends ... continue reading
the dying flame does not sleep at night
night intervals measured by dreams and physiology bring the brevity of fate, this ironic courtesan, ... continue reading
the act of preparing an omelette
is making an omelette an art or an act of desperation? what does it mean if an egg in the fridge and a can ... continue reading
clair de lune
as the late evening washes away the withered traces of daylight, i watch from the drenched window ... continue reading
just another day or two
every morning i make myself breakfast; flat bread with cheese spread and salad, sometimes a can of fish in spicy tomato ... continue reading
portraits at a crossroads
looking at the portrait of james taylor, i am waiting for both sides now to finish shedding raindrops on the window sill. ... continue reading
when the lights are off
i am trying to remember the sky over berlin as i leaf through my old pocket edition of berlitz’s guide ... continue reading
an exercise in doubt
if no word is worth its weight in silence, why should i waste any on the stillness of this wicked chamber, let alone trifles ... continue reading
a swollen wound of my soul
when i was young, no aces were mentioned, so first i put it all down to her shyness. then i thought it was because of her religiosity. ... continue reading
murmurs in the rose
i wish i had managed to convince you to visit eighty-four charing cross road. you can still change your mind and buy ... continue reading
two perfect strangers
from the distance of the kind words you wrote, let us meet once at our favourite spot, nestled on the corner of waverly place and west tenth, ... continue reading
legends
a little girl watched an armada of biremes hurtling to the north-east with the lacedaemonian army ... continue reading
mirrored me
when i look at my naked body in the mirror, all i see is a history written in the surgical scars. so i am that longing corpse, not quite old yet, ... continue reading
a cold fire
i think i am falling for you, although i have a feeling that what really attracts me ... continue reading
old men are dreamers
when i mistook you for someone from my distant past, it was just an innocent mistake, a bit amusing actually. and even looking at the world through your eyes, i only ... continue reading
elegy written in a city cul-de-sac
no need, my boy, to shed a tear when, lost in the crowded urban thicket, you enter a blind alley. ... continue reading
her four of a kind
i met her by chance at the hellenic lectures. enchanted, i watched her taking notes with her swan fountain ... continue reading
nine-twelve
it is my sunday with the kids. we are going to the science centre. i think they will like it and maybe ... continue reading
nine-eleven
first, nineteen men killed two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven people. then the “war on terror” began, which has ... continue reading
a history of what?
as i read the history of the greco-persian wars, portrayed as the great war between east and west, as a clash of two civilisations, i can not help but feel ... continue reading
the way i am
i am a straight, white, middle-class, able-bodied male. i am a highly paid, well-educated white-collar worker. i am a european union member states’ passport holder. ... continue reading
a supposition
if i could simply leave, turn off the light, and slam the door, drawing this galling lease to a close, ... continue reading
the effortless comfort of pity
if you only read texts that you agree with, then you will just reinforce your biases. so i read the tragic sense of life and feel sorry ... continue reading
anniversary
a year ago, i woke up early in the morning, ate a bowl of porridge for breakfast, brushed my teeth, changed clothes, and spent the next few hours exploring ... continue reading
undefined
the adage says, money does not make you happy, to which someone added, but it allows you to be comfortably unhappy. and in this sarcastic remark, ... continue reading
would i dare to ask?
what does it mean to be a free man? what does it take? would i dare to ask the lycians who set fire to the citadel ... continue reading
not all shines through
we dream of being stars, but the only thing we manage to achieve is being a piece of rock, and not even the big one that shines with reflected ... continue reading
the confession of a liar
listening to the silence of the wise man in the agora trying to convince me that i write to leave behind a shadow of my ... continue reading
the order of things
there is this commentator i love to read and always think about her as beautiful and smart, and then regret that she is a lesbian ... continue reading
every next last one
going out for a walk along the promenade in the evenings, sitting on a bench in the deep shade and exchanging indifferent glances with the shoelaces passing me by, ... continue reading
identity
i am the burning of a chafed ankle. i am the swelling from an infected tooth. i am the gurgling in a sore stomach. ... continue reading
my little worries
do i still have a chance for an indecent line of catullus whispered in my ear in a crowded lift? will i ever find a garter ... continue reading
i play it safe
sometimes i like an essay about a new book more than the book itself, and i find myself settling for the former more and more often. ... continue reading
summer with monika
it was a long night on a train to the seaside. we were boy scouts from the mining basin. they were girl scouts from the highlands. ... continue reading
everything i need
are all the books i have all the books i need? i have a diary of an emigrant ... continue reading
threnus
i can still hear incoming messages even though my phone is silent. and then i wake up sweaty at four ... continue reading
the right one for the question
since when has reading for pleasure become an obligation? do not ask the writer, ask the owner of a private ... continue reading
a simple seashell that i never had
she once said that all she dreamed about was being a mother and not necessarily a wife. it is funny because all i dreamed ... continue reading
one day will become now
one day, i may hold one’s hand without fear. for now, let me walk with my hands in my pockets ... continue reading
a wake up call
they do not need us any more, women. they just keep us around as we are handy sometimes. but though it is our own fault, ... continue reading
seeking a reason
are the tears in my eyes the result of yawning after a sleepless night, or of reading verses to distract myself from the missing pillow ... continue reading
the dilemma of the truth-seeker
if by writing i try to understand what has happened in my life, then each stanza touches a true story, ... continue reading
hardly an expert
if i were asked what love is, i would say, ask the blind for the colour of their eyes, or the deaf for the timbre of their voice, ... continue reading
is stagnant water bound to rot?
fun and games, writing, is it not? sometimes we hit, miss more often, and usually somewhere in between. ... continue reading
if you would rather have
do you remember the words i wrote for you, the lines that over time began to escape your attention, the metaphors ... continue reading
kintsukuroi
is the signature enough to negate half of my life and which half? the one ... continue reading
a year of separation
the year has passed. just a glance and my reflection in a roadside puddle dries up. ... continue reading
the wall with no moon gate
i once met wild geese from the garden of the floating cup. ... continue reading
stiffed
when i pass a couple on the street, sometimes i glance at them to spot that glimmer of male resentment ... continue reading
a libation out of the cup
we only have to walk about until our legs become heavy, and then we can lie down. ... continue reading
tsundoku
i look at my bookshelves with a sense of regret. there are books there that i have not yet matured to read, and books that have passed their time ... continue reading
hidden pilcrow 