Morning Correction

Numinous, by Andrzej Masianis

Winter this year is like a death penalty.
Reprieve will come, it’s
ninety-nine per cent certain.

There’ll be spring. We’ll sit on a bench
and talk about it. Until then in silence
across the frozen islands we move.

I have one request: all the pronouns
referring to God should begin
with a capital letter …

But spring will come.
Nothing’s lost in nature,
as long as we’re alive.

~ trans. Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese

Marcin Świetlicki is the author of ten poetry books, most recent ‘Jeden’ (One; winner of the 2014 Gdynia Literary Prize and nominated for the NIKE Prize), and three novels. He writes texts for the band Świetliki, where he is also a lead vocalist. He lives in Kraków, Poland.

Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese’s translations of contemporary Polish poetry appear regularly in journals and anthologies. Her books include: ‘Nothing More’, a selection from Krystyna Miłobędzka (2013); ‘Salt Monody’, versions of Marzanna Kielar (2006); ‘Cognitive Poetic Readings in Elizabeth Bishop: Portrait of a Mind Thinking’ (2010). She co-edited ‘Carnivorous Boy Carnivorous Bird: Poetry from Poland’ (2004) and co-wrote ‘Metropoetica. Poetry and Urban Space: Women Writing Cities’ (2013).