Anna Swir (1909-1984)

I Knocked My Head against the Wall

By Anna Swir 1909–1984

As a child
I put my finger in the fire
to become
a saint.


As a teenager
every day I would knock my head against the wall.


As a young girl
I went out through a window of a garret
to the roof
in order to jump.


As a woman
I had lice all over my body.
They cracked when I was ironing my sweater.


I waited sixty minutes
to be executed.
I was hungry for six years.


Then I bore a child,
they were carving me
without putting me to sleep.


Then a thunderbolt killed me
three times and I had to rise from the dead three times
without anyone’s help.


Now I am resting
after three resurrections.