Halina Birenbaum
Sounds
of a
guilty
silence
it cries in me
not often I know how to laugh
I don't like jokes, frivolity
not because I find it evil
but because for me they are luxury
riches difficult to achieve
there is a sea of sadness in me
sorrowful tears
unfinished wrongs
incurable wounds
hushed up moans
it
cries in me when from my eyes tears flowwhen I work quietly
when I speak to people normally
when lively and freely
I go about my housework
it cries when I lean over my child's bed
when I worry about his well-being
when I am glad seeing his grace and progress
when I think about his future
and compare it with my own
it cries in me when I am held in loving arms
when I am the object of caressing glances
mouth melting hot kisses
1
it cries in me when I am among friends
when I am drinking ceremonial toasts
when listening to happy music
cries with anxiety, apprehension about them
cries with happiness for their existence
sorrow of passing
rise and decline of love
friendships - life
cries with pain of terrible memories
comparisons and greatest fear
that it somehow might happen again
November26, 1967