„I tutaj będę spędzał kwarantannę...” Berlin czasu pandemii w tomie Ręka pszczelarza Tomasza Różyckiego

Abstract

Published in the year 2022, the poetic volume Ręka pszczelarza [The Beekeeper’s Hand] by Tomasz Różycki encompasses 78 poems, predominantly sonnets. These poems, according to the publisher’s suggestion, encapsulate the poet’s contemplations during his period of isolation in Berlin amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Each of these poems serves as a documentation of the metamorphoses undergone by the lyrical persona while confined within an empty apartment-transforming into mythical creatures, with countenances evoking images of an animal. The central figure in these verses embarks on a journey through the deserted streets of Berlin, much like Odysseus, often stumbling upon the “stones of memory” (German: Stolpersteine) embedded in the sidewalks, which serve as poignant reminders of the Jewish inhabitants of the city who perished during the Second World War.