Tadeusz Rozewicz

I’m twenty-four Led to slaughter I survived.These words are empty and equivalent: man and animal love and hate foe and friend dark and light.Man is killed just like an animal I’ve seen: truckloads of chopped up people who will never be saved.Conc [...]

I like old women ugly women mean womenthey are the salt of the earththey are not disgusted by human wastethey know the flipside of the coin of love of faithdictators clown around come and go hands stained with human bloodold women get up at dawn buy [...]

When it rains I lie flat spread out distant in a fogI feel wet twigs of blackthorn stretched out under my skin gnarled prickly blackthe capillarity of blood vessels of the stems of plantsup flows blood rust bile patina and colors the plainon the rim [...]

At dawn as you’re leaving your contours shucked out of night a bright violin your birch hips bowed taut strings still vibrating.Enveloped encased by your touch a cover of caresses so sweet I will not drift off into sleep.Eyelids open wider are now [...]

justifies nothing explains nothing renounces nothing encompasses no whole fulfills no hopecreates no new rules of the game takes no part in merriment has a defined place it must occupyif it’s not esoteric if it’s not original if it doesn’t awe [...]

the lips of truth are pressed tighta finger to the lips tells us the time has comefor silenceno one will answer the question what is truththe one who knew the one who was the truth is gone [...]

Rosy ideals hang quartered in butcher’s boothsIn stores clowns’ masks are sold gaudy post-mortem casts made of our faces we who live we who survived staring into the eyesockets of war. [...]