The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 11/19/08

[BlueIris]

"The Railroad Station"

My nonarrival in the city of N.
took place on the dot.

You'd been alerted
in my unmailed letter.

You were able not to be there
at the agreed-upon time.

The train pulled up at Platform 3.
A lot of people got out.

My absence joined the throng
as it made its way toward the exit.

Several women rushed
to take my place
in all that rush.

Somebody ran up to one of them.
I didn't know him,
but she recognized him
immediately.

While they kissed
with not our lips,
a suitcase disappeared,
not mine.

The railroad station in the city of N.
passed its exam
in objective existence
with flying colors.

The whole remained in place.
Particulars scurried
along the designated tracks.

Even a rendezvous
took place as planned.

Beyond the reach
of our presence.

In the paradise lost
of probability.

Somewhere else.
Somewhere else.
How these little words ring.

—Wislawa Szymborska
(Translated from the Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear BlueIris...

Oh, how sad this is...

It's beautiful, but so melancholy...

What might have been...

Thank you...

[BlueIris]

2. I was hoping someone would proffer an interpretation.

Because I've never really understood this one.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. That was my first impression...

The melancholy sense of loss...

[Chorophyll]

4. I agree with California Peggy.

Only to put it more crudely, I think the poet is saying,"dear dude, if you weren't such a dumbass it could have been me and you kissing at the train station in the city of N. The train did its job just fine, the city was able to be a backdrop for a few non-dumbasses and their girlfriends. But you're such a dumbass that I didn't even bother to write to you or buy a train ticket."

Or he might be a married or otherwise-unavailable dumbass.

Of course, I could just be putting my own personal spin on the poor poem...

[BlueIris]

5. Nice!

Szymborska writes a lot about alternative realities and relativity, so I thought it might have just been about that. But I guess there are other nuances.

[Chorophyll]

6. It seemed like an angry poem to me.

I've never read Szymborska. Sometimes it's nice to wade into a poem without knowing anything about the poet. (It's nice to have a few people who post poems here, too.) :)