At the Border of Paradise

It’s strange
that green valleys are still here
as if happiness slept in them
and shady streams
we once knew for sure
existed
and that there still are roofs
under which small children sleep
filling the house with a different silence

It’s strange
that clouds here still follow the sun
like gliding birds
and that there still is simple human goodness
besides what aspires upwards
that pure music stands at the door
which suddenly seems like a palace portico

It’s strange
that we still
want so much to love and cry
~Anna Kamienska