I missed my moment Poem by Tadeusz Dąbrowski

And how could I fail to miss it, reading tomorrow's news
on the internet, hearing songs by the white dwarves
of rock pretending to be supernovas. Seeing

how a tsunami from years ago keeps on engulfing
the same old villages, and the World Trade Center towers
are hurriedly rebuilt by night in order languidly

to tumble by day. So tell me, how could I not miss
my moment in a world where the same paper
comes out in four versions: conservative,

progressive, moderate and without text. In times
when the unused minutes pass on to the next
month. I missed my moment. When, where?

Or maybe it missed me? Vanished
over the horizon, fattened infinitely.

And is waiting.

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones