Thank You, My Fate

Thank You, My Fate

Great humility fills me,
great purity fills me,
I make love with my dear
as if I made love dying
as if I made love praying,
tears pour
over my arms and his arms.
I don’t know whether this is joy
or sadness, I don’t understand
what I feel, I’m crying,
I’m crying, it’s humility
as if I were dead,
gratitude, I thank you, my fate,
I am worthy, how beautiful
my life.

— Anna Swir

Translated from Polish by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan