Ballad: that we do not perish

They who sailed at dawn
but now will never return
left their trace on a wave -

a shell lovely as a fossil mouth
sinks to the depths of the sea

Those who trod the sandy road
but never reached the sutters
though they could see rooftops -

will find shelter in the air's bell

and those who will orphan only
a chilly room a couple of books
an empty inkwell a blank page

verily did not wholly die

they whisper in wallpaper groves
their flat heads live on the ceiling
their paradise is made of air water
of lime of earth an angel of winds

will chafe their bodies in his hand
they will
waft across pastures of this world

Zbigniew Herbert, The Collected Poems 1956 - 1998, Alissa Valles, Ecco, 2007