I came back I say
I knew you’d come back she says
I arrived here in a boat of ten years I say
Yes she says
I often spoke to you
with tips of my fingers
with thumps of the heart with blood
and with the world’s beauty
I was deaf and blind I say
That’s true she says
I often stood behind a chair
argued with you through your toil
and your suffering
You were patient I say
I had faith she says
It’s possible to be blind
but impossible to walk away
from what is everywhere
I came back I say
though I thought there was no return
∞A Talk with Mother by Anna Kamieńska, in Astonishments (translated by G. Drabik and D. Curzon)