Miroslav Holub: "The Door"

Go and open the door.
        Maybe outside there’s
        a tree, or a wood,
        a garden,
        or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
        Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
        Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
        of a picture.

Go and open the door.
        If there’s a fog
        it will clear.

Go and open the door.
        Even if there’s only
        the darkness ticking,
        even if there’s only
        the hollow wind,
        even if
                nothing
                        is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.

"The Door" by Miroslav Holub, from Poems Before & After, translated from the original Czech by Ian Milner et al. (Bloodaxe Books, 2006). Text as posted on Scottish Poetry Library.

Art credit: "Change is walking through an open door," photograph taken August 23, 2009, by Photocillin. Caption: "An orphan at Luchenza in Malawi."