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" Ars Poetica

I taught my words to love,
I showed them my heart
and would not give up until their syllables
did not start to beat.

I showed them trees
and what words wouldn't rustle
I hanged, without pity, from the branches.

In the end, words
needed to resemble both me
and the world.

Then
I came to me,
I braced myself between two banks
of a river,
to present a bridge,
a bridge between a bull's horn and grass,
between black stars of light and earth,
between the temple of a woman's head and a man's,
letting words travel over me
like racing cars, electric trains,
only so they could cross faster,
only so they would learn to transport the world,
from itself,
to itself. "

Nichita Stănescu , Wheel with a Single Spoke: and other poems


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Nichita Stănescu quote : Ars Poetica<br /><br />I taught my words to love,<br />I showed them my heart<br />and would not give up until their syllables<br />did not start to beat.<br /><br />I showed them trees<br />and what words wouldn't rustle<br />I hanged, without pity, from the branches.<br /><br />In the end, words<br />needed to resemble both me<br />and the world.<br /><br />Then<br />I came to me,<br />I braced myself between two banks<br />of a river,<br />to present a bridge,<br />a bridge between a bull's horn and grass,<br />between black stars of light and earth,<br />between the temple of a woman's head and a man's,<br />letting words travel over me<br />like racing cars, electric trains,<br />only so they could cross faster,<br />only so they would learn to transport the world,<br />from itself,<br />to itself.