blog • 3/24/2026
A CHEST WITH SILENCE -POEM- Małgorzata Borzeszkowska
A CHEST WITH SILENCE
Poetry
into the chest of silences
someone has built drawers and
compartments;
in mine, the most capacious is
the one for forest wordlessness,
soothing
as a poultice
of honey, like a compress
of haircap moss
there is also a small space for the
hush before a storm—the storm
comes quickly,
so it is not worth wasting room
there is a double drawer for a
knowing silence—I sometimes let
you fill it
with your share of quiet
in the compartment with a
hot-water bottle nests a warm
silence at dusk
or at dawn, when light finds a
fissure between the curtain and
the window frame,
a silence gilded by your kind
presence.
among the many drawers and
recesses of the chest there is also
one long and narrow,
for a silence taut with tension,
where on a thin string hang words
unspoken and unspeakable, honed
for years,
seemingly dust-covered—
they can sometimes snap and
burst
out beyond
us with a crash.
there is also, wedged by a
knee into the smallest drawer,
table-silence,
with crumbs of cake and the hope
of a tart sip
of a
word
[Małgorzata Borzeszkowska is a Polish poet and teacher living in Lębork and Wejherowo. Professionally, she teaches history and English at a school near Lębork.
She has been writing poetry for almost 20 years, and her work has been repeatedly awarded in national poetry competitions (including those named after Stryjewski, Kulka, and Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska). Her most important poetry collections include: Ubramy (At the Gate) (2008) – awarded at the Pomeranian and Kashubian Book Fair Costerina; Wpisani w pejzaż (Inscribed in the Landscape) (2019); Z pogranicza ciszy i światła (From the Borderland of Silence and Light) (2021); Las Schrödingera (Schrödinger’s Forest) (2022); Odłamki. Rok pierwszy (Fragments. Year One) (2025) – a publication addressing, among other things, the topic of the war in Ukraine.
In 2026, the author announced a project entitled “What the Seashells Whisper,” in which she tells stories about the Kashubian past through drawings of women from old photographs. She is a member of ZLP ( the Association of Polish Literary Authors)
And The Gdańsk Club of Poets
Her poems have been translated into foreign languages, including Chinese and English (published as an e-book collection Reflectoem). She also regularly publishes in literary magazines such as “Helikopter” and “Pisarze.pl”.
Currently, she is the Associate Editor of Litterateur Redefining World.]
Poetry
into the chest of silences
someone has built drawers and
compartments;
in mine, the most capacious is
the one for forest wordlessness,
soothing
as a poultice
of honey, like a compress
of haircap moss
there is also a small space for the
hush before a storm—the storm
comes quickly,
so it is not worth wasting room
there is a double drawer for a
knowing silence—I sometimes let
you fill it
with your share of quiet
in the compartment with a
hot-water bottle nests a warm
silence at dusk
or at dawn, when light finds a
fissure between the curtain and
the window frame,
a silence gilded by your kind
presence.
among the many drawers and
recesses of the chest there is also
one long and narrow,
for a silence taut with tension,
where on a thin string hang words
unspoken and unspeakable, honed
for years,
seemingly dust-covered—
they can sometimes snap and
burst
out beyond
us with a crash.
there is also, wedged by a
knee into the smallest drawer,
table-silence,
with crumbs of cake and the hope
of a tart sip
of a
word
[Małgorzata Borzeszkowska is a Polish poet and teacher living in Lębork and Wejherowo. Professionally, she teaches history and English at a school near Lębork.
She has been writing poetry for almost 20 years, and her work has been repeatedly awarded in national poetry competitions (including those named after Stryjewski, Kulka, and Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska). Her most important poetry collections include: Ubramy (At the Gate) (2008) – awarded at the Pomeranian and Kashubian Book Fair Costerina; Wpisani w pejzaż (Inscribed in the Landscape) (2019); Z pogranicza ciszy i światła (From the Borderland of Silence and Light) (2021); Las Schrödingera (Schrödinger’s Forest) (2022); Odłamki. Rok pierwszy (Fragments. Year One) (2025) – a publication addressing, among other things, the topic of the war in Ukraine.
In 2026, the author announced a project entitled “What the Seashells Whisper,” in which she tells stories about the Kashubian past through drawings of women from old photographs. She is a member of ZLP ( the Association of Polish Literary Authors)
And The Gdańsk Club of Poets
Her poems have been translated into foreign languages, including Chinese and English (published as an e-book collection Reflectoem). She also regularly publishes in literary magazines such as “Helikopter” and “Pisarze.pl”.
Currently, she is the Associate Editor of Litterateur Redefining World.]