Anna Kamienska's 'patch of wild grace'

So happy to have discovered a poet I'd never heard of before: Anna Kamienska (1920-1986). I keep reading & re-reading her work wondering how she achieves the depth & quality that ring out from such simple words - no fancy-shmancy stuff; no great verbal tricks, and yet.... 

I've always believed that authenticity always carries great authority. It is usually very simply stated; and raw. Honesty is another word that fits the equation. Yet it's only in my commitment to seek out a different poet each day that I stumbled across Anna, it being her birth-date. She deserves to be celebrated - how had I not heard of her before?!  

I look at this quote and I'm awed. 

She condenses so much passion into such small packages - like grenades - incendiary - they explode so unexpectedly. 

There seems to be a clue to her wonder-full writing in this poem - seeing the world through the eyes of a child, and retaining that astonishment. 

There's so much pain loaded in her choice of words: 'condemned' / 'cell' / cuts made by glass / being 'lost'. Even 'hope' takes on that tinge of a yearning that will never be satisfied. Powerful. 

      She writes:

      'I wasn't looking for God at all,

       I sought my Dead One.

       I'll never cease repeating this, amazed'. 

I have always wondered about the art of translating poetry, with so many considerations to take into account, not just straightforward word-for-word treatments, but: sound; syllables; rhythm as well as meaning - a lot to manage. So I was really excited to find 2 different translations of the same poem. seeing them together, side by side, with all their nuances and slight variations is fascinating: 

[2nd translation by Grazyna Drabik & David Curzon]

                      

Touching to see pain balanced out by humour. I have noticed before, as well as from personal experience, that it's a useful way of processing any form of oppression - something the Poles experienced many times throughout history, literally, from all sides. 

I'm so pleased to have made her acquaintance - It would be good to see if I can follow her up, perhaps through P.O.S.K., and the Polish Institute in London. I hope you have enjoyed her work as much as I have.