Czeslaw Milosz Poems

All was taken away from you: white dresses,
wings, even existence.
Yet I believe you,
messengers.
...

I don’t remember exactly when Budberg died, it was either two years
ago or three.
The same with Chen. Whether last year or the one before.
...

His old age fell on years of abundant harvest.
There were no earthquakes, droughts or floods.
...

Where does evil come from?
It comes
from man
always from man
...

Your hand, my wonder, is now icy cold.
The purest light of the celestial dome
has burned me through. And now we are
as two still plams lying in darlmess,
...

All my life to pretend this world of theirs is mine
And to know such pretending is disgraceful.
But what can I do? Suppose I suddenly screamed
And started to prophesy. No one would hear me.
...

It is true, our tribe is similar to the bees,
It gathers honey of wisdom, carries it, stores it in honeycombs.
I am able to roam for hours
Through the labyrinth of the main library, floor to floor.
...

1
Who will honor the city without a name
If so many are dead and others pan gold
Or sell arms in faraway countries?
...

The garden of Nature opens.
The grass at the threshold is green.
And an almond tree begins to bloom.
...

Stalking a deer I wandered deep into the mountains and from there I saw.

Or perhaps it was for some other reason that I rose above
...