The Seventh Column

By Claudia Wysocky

Once again Diderot's beautiful ruin stands

in the corner of my mind,

the great book-city he described in Les Bijoux Indiscrets.

It stands there with its cupola and wings and spires; the vast cranes

that have been thrown up over the roofs, the towers

of every color and shape, like laments; the wide-open

windows that look out across the city's view: and here a

rich man's palace, there a poor man's hovel, and

everywhere the same old poverty and misery.

The sun shines on Diderot's ruin, but it is not enough to warm

the air. It glares on the golden spires and cupolas, and melts

the stone and marble into liquid gold.

The shadows lie across the dusty streets like a veil of fire; the

scorched pavement is strewn with broken glass, with splinters

of wood and bits of plaster; the dead leaves rustle, and amid that

universal silence one hears the distant hum of a city in pain.

Claudia Wysocky, a Polish poet and novelist based now in New York, is known for her ability to capture the beauty of life through rich descriptions in her writing. She firmly believes that art has the potential to inspire positive change. With over five years of experience in fiction writing, Claudia has had her poems published in local newspapers and magazines. For her, writing is an endless journey and a powerful source of motivation.