lightning
leads the world
from darkness
into darkness

 
 
 
Grzegorz Białkowski (1932-1989) was a Polish poet and physicist. The two poems come from his eighth, posthumous book, Figury z piasku (Sand Figures), published in Poland in 2015 by the Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. During his lifetime Białkowski’s work appeared in prestigious Polish literary journals such as Współczesność, Odra, and Twórczość. These are the first English renditions of any of his poems.

Danuta E. Kosk-Kosicka is the translator for two books by Lidia Kosk, niedosyt/reshapings (Oficyna Dziennikarzy i Literatów POD WIATR, 2003) and Słodka woda, słona woda/Sweet Water, Salt Water (ASTRA, 2009). She is the author of Face Half-Illuminated (Apprentice House, 2015), a book of poems and translations, and Oblige the Light (CityLit Press, 2015), winner of the fifth Clarinda Harriss Poetry Prize, reviewed, among others, in TQ. She is the translations editor at Loch Raven Review.