The Three Oddest Words

by Wisława Szymborska

When I pronounce the word Future,

the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,

I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word Nothing,

I make something no non-being can hold.

Translated by Stanislaw Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh. From Poems: New and Collected 1957–1997, Orlando, Florida: Harvest/Harcourt, 1998, page 261.