Bees Fell Asleep

“As we slowly forget the dead, we slowly

draw closer to them . . . ” says a dour man

met by accident. It’s true. Bees fell asleep

and I remember nobody. In yellow leaves

I don’t recognize your wrinkled face.

 Translated by Piotr Gwiazda 

“Bees Fell Asleep” was published in Los Angeles Review 18 (2015).

You can read and listen to the poem in the original Polish here.