"Contribution to Statistics" by Wislawa Szymborska

Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska always works the line between cliche and wisdom, between banality and prophecy, which is part of her contribution to poetry.  There is something deeply human in that poetic stance, since we humans always seem to be tottering between mindless foolishness and keen insight, between drudgery and jouissance.  Maybe that's just me.

"Contribution to Statistics" by Wislawa Szymborska




Out of a hundred people
those who always know better
-- fifty-two
doubting every step
-- nearly all the rest,
glad to lend a hand
if it doesn't take too long
-- as high as forty-nine,
always good
because they can't be otherwise
-- four, well maybe five,
able to admire without envy
-- eighteen,
suffering illusions
induced by fleeting youth
-- sixty, give or take a few,
not to be taken lightly
-- forty and four,
living in constant fear
of someone or something
-- seventy-seven,
capable of happiness
-- twenty-something tops,
harmless singly, savage in crowds
-- half at least,
cruel
when forced by circumstances
-- better not to know
even ballpark figures,
wise after the fact
-- just a couple more
than wise before it,
taking only things from life
-- thirty
(I wish I were wrong),
hunched in pain,
no flashlight in the dark
-- eighty-three
sooner or later,
righteous
-- thirty-five, which is a lot,
righteous
and understanding
-- three,
worthy of compassion
-- ninety-nine,
mortal
-- a hundred out of a hundred.
Thus far this figure still remains unchanged.


~ Wislawa Szymborska ~
(Poems: New and Selected, trans. by S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)