in a former life
I crammed ripe blueberries into my mouth
separated the trash for recycling
we drew up wills
saved our money
and soaked in bubbles
limiting water from the tap
we’d finish leftovers
help our friends
talk on and about the revolution
I was against violence
you founded collectives
I was a believer then
a true believer
that good would overcome
now I walk away
staring at the scrim of sky
because you sloughed off your skin
because your skin sloughed you off
I am the sand in your navel
and I nestle in the ash
Author’s commentary:
Sometimes I look at the forest and think that maybe things aren’t so bad, as long as I can hear the tap of a woodpecker. Together my partner and I go to protests and demonstrations, save water, don’t eat animals. We don’t have children (thanks to #BirthStrike) and we vacation in Warmia (because of #FlyingLess). We do all these things with urgency since in a yet unseen ‘soon’, that catastrophic ‘something’ might happen, and then I’ll want to recite a poem like this and snuggle against a belly close at hand.
Translated from the Polish by Karen Kovacik
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Published:
funeral
Magnet
Confession
