PHOTOGRAPH FROM SEPTEMBER 11





They jumped from the burning floors –

one, two, a few more,

higher, lower.



The photograph halted them in life,

and now keeps them

above the earth toward the earth.



Each is still complete,

with a particular face

and blood well-hidden.



There’s enough time

for hair to come loose

for keys and coins

to fall from pockets.



They’re still within the air’s reach,

in the compass of places

that have just now opened.



I can do only two things for them –

describe this flight

and not add a last line.





Por Wislawa Szymborska
Tradução para o inglês de Stanislaw Baranczak e Clare Cavanagh
Arte Edvard Munch