Romanesque Arches

Inside the huge Romanesque church,

the tourists jostled in the half darkness.

Vault gaped behind vault, no complete view.

A few candle flames flickered.

An angel with no face embraced me

and whispered through my whole body:

“Don’t be ashamed of being human, be proud!

Inside you vault opens behind vault endlessly.

You will never be complete, that’s how it’s meant to be.”

Blind with tears

I was pushed out on the sun-seething piazza

together with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Mr. Tanaka, and Signora Sabatini,

and inside each of them vault opened behind vault endlessly.

~ Tomas Tranströmer ~
from The Half-Finished Heaven
(Translated by Robert Bly)

Tomas Tranströmer received many honors and awards,
including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature,
the International Nonino Prize, and the Nobel Prize in Literature.