Issue of 2007-02-05
Posted 2007-01-29
Every thing that is
our strength
is also our weakness
everything carries within itself
the stigma of its opposite sign
like a number tattooed on a prisoner’s arm
like a letter sewn onto a deportee’s coat
there’s no escaping it
even if we were to walk at a certain pace
head held high
number and letter warn:
here is a victim of those clothed in wolves’ skins
here branded by history
ecce homo
—Ryszard Kapuściński
(Translated, from the Polish, by Diana Kuprel and Marek Kusiba.)
