Holub

On Sisyphus

Unable to roll up that boulder,
that boulder or whatever it was, maybe gneiss, maybe paper
I decided the fault lay with me.
The important thing about faults is that they can be corrected,
my mother used to say.


I decided the fault lay with me.
So I added to the boulder
as much weight again.  Whatever it was,
maybe hate, maybe love.
And at once it went better.  Because


of the certainty that it would
probably break my neck.


Then came the tea-break.
And I realised
that hysteria doesn't solve anything.


from Miroslav Holub Poems Before and After