Wisława Szymborska, "Experiment"

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

As a short subject before the main feature -
in which the actors did their best
to make me cry and even laugh -
we were shown an interesting experiment
involving a head.

The head
a minute earlier was still attached to...
but now it was cut off.
Everyone could see that it didn't have a body.
The tubes dangling from the neck hooked it up to a machine
that kept its blood circulating.
The head
was doing just fine.

Without showing pain or even surprise,
it followed a moving flashlight with its eyes.
It pricked up its ears at the sound of a bell.
Its moist nose could tell
the smell of bacon from odorless oblivion,
and licking its chops with evident relish
it salivated its salute to physiology.

A dog's faithful head,
a dog's friendly head
squinted its eyes when stroked,
convinced that it was still part of a whole
that crooks its back if patted
and wags its tail.

I thought about happiness and was frightened.
For if that's all life is about,
the head
was happy.

Comments

Szymborska

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

i have such a difficult time choosing favorites and find it mostly impossible, but she has been my favorite female poet for many years now. looove her. :)

[fflo.livejournal.com]

dang... good one

ign'ant question: how does one pronounce Szymborska?

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

Zim-Bore-Skah, according to my Creative Poetry prof.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

ty!

[fflo.livejournal.com]

oooh... good idea. i tend to forget about the glories of the Internets!

p.s.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

i really just meant ign'ant in the literal sense of "dunno"

:=]

[sliverofsanity.livejournal.com]

Ah, this brings me back to my Theory of Knowledge class...