Mr. Cogito's Legs
By Zbigniew Herbert

the left leg is quite normal
one might even say optimistic
a little short perhaps
boyish
fleshy smiles
with a finely fashioned calf

the right one
pitiful
skinny
with two scars
one along the achilles tendon
the other ovate
pale pink
ignominious souvenir of an escape

the left one
inclined to leaps
dancing
loving life too much
to risk it

the right one
nobly stiff
mocking danger

here he comes
on both legs
the left one like Sancho Panza
and the right
resembling the adventurous knight
Mr. Cogito
walks
through the world
limping a little

translated from the Polish by John M. Gogol