APRILIA ZANK

APRILIA ZANK

NOT IN A MOVIE

I saw Death

with my own eyes

not in a movie

not in a poem

not in Wagner's “Tristan und Isolde”

but in my own flesh and blood

and although I still go

to the supermarket

to the butcher's

to the doctor's to check

my blood pressure

the sugar in my blood

the neurons in my brain

although I drink my glass of red wine every evening

although I reach the climax when I copulate

I know IT is there

in the back of my head

and I shout to you out there

to send me prayers

good vibes

positive thoughts

but all I hear is

the echo of my own words

filling your mouths

when you shout back

and beg for mercy

and all I can do is

show you my bare hands

and give them to you

to read your own story

in the lines of my palms.

DAPHNIS AND CHLOÉ

at dawn

she

chrysalis-shaped

broke the glass case

and went to bleed

on the sheepskin

he

turned over

his wife's photograph

drank his coffee hot

looked nervously

at the reel of seconds

the day was young

light creeping

between thin letters

buds burst open

at the crossing

the traffic jammed

horns

honked like mad

with the twisting of bodies

and the virgin cry

ECHOES

I thought I'd heard

a child cry for help

when I passed the lake

yet, on turning my head

all I sensed was snow dust

on its frozen mirror

we'd take a torch

to light our passage

through the snow

towering the path

I was aching with fear

at the thought

that the white roebuck

might cross our steps

rumours went about

that even the wolves

would weasel out of its way

only the cursed maid

who had dared

to cast a glimpse

would now roam about

moon white

in her torn gown

I would hear

the cry of lambs

rent by wolves

in the crux of night

and the whistle of trains

ghosting by

never slowing to stop

APRILIA ZANK