Wisława Szymborska의 시 "Vietnam"

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    "Are those your children?" "Yes."

 

Wisława Szymborska의 시 "Vietnam"의 마지막 줄이다. Gaza의 이스라엘 홀로코스트에 대한 미국과 유럽의 대응을 다룬 Omar_El_Akkad의 책  "One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" (2025) 서두 인용글에서 처음 읽었다. (이 책은 2025 'National Book Award for Nonfiction'수상작이다.)

 

                                                        
           Vietnam

           By Wisława Szymborska

"Woman, what's your name?" "I don't know."
"How old are you? Where are you from?" "I don't know."
Why did you dig that burrow?" "I don't know."
"How long have you been hiding?" "I don't know."
"Why did you bite my finger?" "I don't know."
"Don't you know that we won't hurt you?" "I don't know."
"Whose side are you on?" "I don't know."
"This is war, you've got to choose." "I don't know."
"Does your village still exist?" "I don't know."
"Are those your children?" "Yes."

(Trans. Stanislaw Barnczak & Clare Cavanagh)