1 <br /> <br />Troy O Troy <br />an archeologist <br />will sift your ashes through his fingers <br />yet a fire occurred greater than that of the Iliad <br />for seven strings-- <br /> <br />too few strings <br />one needs a chorus <br />a sea of laments <br />and thunder of mountains <br />rain of stone <br /> <br />--how to lead <br />people away from the ruins <br />how to lead <br />the chorus from poems-- <br /> <br />thinks the faultless poet <br />respectably mute <br />as a pillar of salt <br />--The song will escape unharmed <br />It escaped <br />with flaming wing <br />into a pure sky <br /> <br />The moon rises over the ruins <br />Troy O Troy <br />The city is silent <br /> <br />The poet struggles with his own shadow <br />The poet cries like a bird in the void <br /> <br />The moon repeats its landscape <br />gentle metal in smoldering ash <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />They walked along ravines of former streets <br />as if on a red sea of cinders <br /> <br />and wind lifted the red dust <br />faithfully painted the sunset of the city <br /> <br />They walked along ravines of former streets <br />they breathed on the frozen dawn in vain <br /> <br />they said: long years will pass <br />before the first house stands here <br /> <br />they walked along ravines of former streets <br />they thought they would find some traces <br /> <br />a cripple plays <br />on a harmonica <br />about the braids of a willow <br />about a girl <br /> <br />the poet is silent <br />rain falls<br /><br />Zbigniew Herbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/about-troy/
