day and night
I heard women working non-stop,
day and night. What they left behind are wrinkles
and hasty breathing.
Their expressions were such, that, just remembering,
I draw the curtains and lose the view.
It’s much harder to turn away and disappear.
To lower one’s head in the light of the lamp, one’s legs, arms.
Cake tins stuffed with tension, as if the programme
of evening activities was hiding the pitfalls, difficult questions
about weather forecasts, they make us start winter.
On frosty days, the back pain, I’ll wrap myself in a blanket,
disappear. Since eye damage depends on putting your hands
in water or the voice coming from the radio.
© Małgorzata Południak