What I Wanted To Say And Was Late Poem by Abraham Sutzkever

What I wanted to say and was late
Among so many different yours
Just to you,
What I terribly wanted to say and was late —
Would have been fewer than twin words,
Would have lasted less than three seconds.

What I wanted to say and was late —
I'm saying in book after book and am twisted,
Tormented,
By sundials, filled with sand and with sandy time.

What I wanted to say and was late —
I say in a prayer to a prayer of yours,
Till you return a signal
As if from a distant planet.
Even less: just a rhyme,
Just an oy:
The language of seed in the earth that creates its own heaven.
What I wanted to say —
I'll be silent for both.

1966