Tanka with the Masters - Milosz

How
enduring,
how
we
need
durability.

The
sky
before
sunrise
is
soaked
with
light.

Rosy
color
tints
buildings,
bridges,
and
the
Seine.

I
was
here
when
she,
with
whom
I
walk,
wasn't
born
yet

And
the
cities
on
a
distant
plain
stood
intact

Before
they
rose
in
the
air
with
the
dust
of
sepulchral
brick

And
the
people
who
lived
there
didn't
know.

Only
this
moment
at
dawn
is
real
to
me.

The
bygone
lives
are
like
my
own
past
life,
uncertain.

I
cast
a
spell
on
the
city
asking
it
to
last.

Czelsaw Milosz

PRIMA LUCE

dawn
before
the
light

smooths
out
shadows
on
the
lake;

like
grey
phantom
limbs

i
miss
her
most
at
midday.

conrad didiodato

a
fragment

of
my
delusionary
stammer.

shutting
out
the
noise

of
sunset

these
eyes
fall

silent

Karina Klesko

* "prima luce" is latin for "dawn" (or "first light")