Friday, April 7
A SHOT IN THE DARK
Perhaps it would've been different. I don't know.
Nobody knows. This kind of knowledge
isn't expected from a random defense witness,
who's looking for a lighter in his pockets.
After a glance it's obvious they won't prove anything.
Until the language invents an appropriate formula
for what could've happened,
we will remain presumed innocent.
I admit that I live here, though I don't
bear any responsibility for this.
An alibi is my birthplace,
and my name the sole circumstantial evidence.
What had been different is the same today,
regardless of the story, which you could revise
for a light. Not a hero, merely an observer.
Testify, time is running out. Shortly the shot will be fired
in the dark. The jurors' eyes are lighting up.
(Jerzy Jarniewicz,
translated from Polish by Piotr Florczyk)