Anna Świrszczyńska was a Polish poet born in Warsaw in 1909. She attended Warsaw University where she studied medieval and baroque Polish literature. She began publishing poems in the 1930s. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Świrszczyńska joined the Polish Resistance and was a military nurse during the Warsaw Uprising. The three short poems are a visceral reaction to survival and pain of war.

Poetry is not always beautiful or comfortable, sometimes it can be intrusive. Think of a time when your senses were overwhelmed. Write a short poem about your experience.