A Ballad of Going Down To The Store
First I went down to the street
by means of the stairs,
just imagine it,
by means of the stairs.
Then people known to people unknown
passed me by and I passed them by.
Regret
that you did not see
how people walk,
regret!
I entered a complete store:
lamps of glass were glowing.
I saw somebody — he sat down —
and what did I hear? what did I hear?
rustling of bags and human talk.
And indeed,
indeed,
I returned.
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translated from the Polish by Czeslaw Milosz
