Children of This Age
Wiesława Szymborska

We are the children of this age,
this age is political.

All your, his, our
day and night-time affairs
are political affairs.

Whether you like it or not
your genes have a political future
the color of your skin is political
your eyes have a political dimension.

Whatever you say has its echo
whatever you keep quiet about
is political – regardless.

Even walking through the forest
you take political steps
on political grounds.

Apolitical poems are political too
the moon in the sky does not look like
the moon.
To be or not to be, that is the question.
What question, tell me?
The political question.

You need not even be a human being
to acquire political importance.
It is enough just to be oil
fodder or recyclable material.

Or a conference table, the shape of which
can be on the agenda for months
at which to discuss life and death,
shall it be round or square?

All this time people have been dying
animals have been starving
houses have been burning
fields have been turning infertile
just as in far off distant -
perhaps less political times.