Poetry Searches For Radiance

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Poetry Searches for Radiance

Poetry searches for radiance,
poetry is the kingly road
that leads us farthest.
We seek radiance in a gray hour,
at noon or in the chimneys of the dawn,
even on a bus, in November,
while an old priest nods beside us.

The waiter in a Chinese restaurant bursts into tears
and no one can think why.
Who knows, this may also be a quest,
like that moment at the seashore,
when a predatory ship appeared on the horizon
and stopped short, held still for a long while.
And also moments of deep joy

and countless moments of anxiety.
Let me see, I ask.
Let me persist, I say.
A cold rain falls at night.
In the streets and avenues of my city
quiet darkness is hard at work.
Poetry searches for radiance.

Adam Zagajewski

"We seek radiance in a gray hour." I know that to be true. And underneath it lies this hope - "Let me see, I ask. Let me persist, I say." I love that. Maybe that's what the poet is doing, doggedly working toward hope, toward light, in spite of everything working against him.