CHRISTOPHER ROBIN - by Czeslaw Milosz

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

- by Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004)

"I must think suddenly of matters
too difficult for a bear of little brain.

I have never asked myself what lies
beyond the place where we live,
I and Rabbit, Piglet and Eeyore,
with our friend Christopher Robin.

That is, we continued to live here,
and nothing changed, and I just
ate my little something. Only
Christopher Robin left for a moment.

Owl says that immediately beyond
our garden Time begins, and that it
is an awfully deep well. If you fall in it,
you go down and down, very quickly, and
no one knows what happens to you next.

I was a bit worried about
Christopher Robin falling in, but he came back
and then I asked him about the well.

'Old bear,' he answered. 'I was in it
and I was falling and I was changing
as I fell. My legs became long, I was
a big person, I grew old, hunched, and
I walked with a cane, and then I died.

It was probably just a dream, it was
quite unreal.

The only real thing was you,
old bear, and our shared fun.

Now I won't go anywhere, even if
I'm called in for an afternoon snack.'


* * *
- translated from the Polish of Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004)