I HEARD IT SAID

 

I heard it said, there is

in the water a stone and a circle

and above the water is a word

that lays the circle around the stone.

I saw my poplar go down to the water,

I saw its arm reach down into the depth,

I saw its roots beg skward for night.

I did not hurry after it,

I picked up from the ground only the crumb

that has your eye's shape and nobility.

I took the chain of sayings off your neck

and with it framed the table where the crumb now lay.

And saw my poplar no more.

                                                          -Paul Celan