Elizabeth Bishop (Элизабет Бишоп)
Argument
Days that cannot bring you near or will not, Distance trying to appear something more obstinate, argue argue argue with me endlessly neither proving you less wanted nor less dear. Distance: Remember all that land beneath the plane; that coastline of dim beaches deep in sand stretching indistinguishably all the way, all the way to where my reasons end? Days: And think of all those cluttered instruments, one to a fact, canceling each other’s experience; how they were like some hideous calendar ”Compliments of Never & Forever, Inc.” The intimidating sound of these voices we must separately find can and shall be vanquished: Days and Distance disarrayed again and gone both for good and from the gentle battleground.
Elizabeth Bishop’s other poems:
