The Conscience of Trees

by Zoltán Böszörményi

Translated from the Hungarian by Paul Sohar

"Zoltán Böszörményi's voice rises pure and truth-filled to join the poets not alone of middle-Europe, but of the world. This is a poetry whose DNA is sourced in the struggles and rebellions of a Hungarian past, but which carries forward to join in a philosophical chorale enriched by place, ideas and love itself. The tone is uncompromising, sometimes ironic, and never overstated. The poet writes, 'My poem is a passing footprint/in the soft sands of your soul;' then invites the reader to make space for his words. An inheritor of the message of the great Attila József, he presents the struggle between self and society, between class and soul, with an almost conversational energy. And yet, he is conscious of the necessary inventions: of the fairytale of childhood with all its complexities and difficulties, and of the huge, symbolic 'toddler' capable of whacking someone's soul 'into docile domestic stock.' These are visionary poems written by a pilgrim soul whose poetic is enriched by the voices of the classical past. We are honored to witness this gifted sensibility."
             —Mary O'Donnell, January 10th, 2018

The Conscience of Trees
(A fák lelkiismerete)

you must appeal to the conscience of trees
their calm is the sign of confidence
that you've coveted for ages
even with a budding mind
their calm is doubt
the probability of the probable
the omnivorous self of
the world with messy hair
now turning silver
trees do not fear failure
rebellion
the cinder of time sifting
into nothingness
trees can see mortals
see our sins
see
what consumes us
that's why trees cling to the sky
with their branches high above