APRILIA ZANK

 

 

The Missing Hour

 

on putting the hours

back into their cases

I noticed

that one was missing 

 

the two to three hour

when the one-eyed cat

sits staring

from the obscurity

of walnut branches

while its empty orbit

absorbs the night

in greedy gulps

and the moon

seeping monthly blood

keeps moaning

behind ragged clouds

 

I could hear the mole rats

digging labyrinths

into darkness

I could sense

shadows in the shadow

and I wondered

when the next case

will remain empty

 

Wondering What To Put On For The End Of The World

 

today as I was waiting

for the world to end

I was just wondering

what to put on,

what would fit best

for a decent appearance

we aren't, after all, bestowed

with such an event every day

 

in case of death by fire

I appreciated

my black and red sequin dress

to be most effective

with its host of

glistening stars

to take me closer to heaven

 

but if it were death by water

this would be totally out of place

much too tight

and colour mismatched

so I'd rather pick out

the long blue-green one

in silk – a cascade of layers

and veils with delicate pearls

perfectly fitting the billows

and willows which I'd see

for the very last time

 

but, no, not a good choice

for death by fulmination

which demands

a fully different attire

leather jacket maybe

high boots and a cap

to tuck in my hair, to avoid

a disorderly countenance

one should, after all,

pay attention to posture

on such rare occasions

 

and while wondering

choosing,

tossing my clothes away

– as I wouldn't need them any longer –

it occurred to me all of a sudden

that it may be something

so singular, so unimaginable

so never thought of before

that nothing on earth

would ever align with

 

and the only way to face the end

would be

naked

stripped

of layers

and

dreams

 

APRILIA ZANK

 

Dr. APRILIA ZANK is an educationist, freelance lecturer for Creative Writing and Translation Theory, as well as a multilingual poet, translator, editor from Munich, Germany and an Author of the Poetry book BAREFOOT TO ARCADIA. Born in Romania, she studied English and French Literature and Linguistics at the University of Bucharest, and then moved to Munich, Germany where she received her PhD degree in Literature and Psycholinguistics for her thesis, THE WORD IN THE WORD Literary Text Reception and Linguistic Relativity, from the Ludwig Maximilian University, where she started her teaching career. The research for her PhD thesis was done in collaboration with six universities from Europe, and as a visiting lecturer at Alberta University of Edmonton, Canada. Dr Aprilia writes verses in English and German, French and Romanian and was awarded a distinction at the “Vera Piller” Poetry Contest in Zurich. Her poetry collection, TERMINUS ARCADIA, was 2nd Place Winner at the Twowolvz Press Poetry Chapbook Contest 2013. In 2018, she was awarded the title “Dr. Aprilia Zank – Germany Beat Poet Laureate”, by the National Beat Poetry Foundation (USA). She has been an acclaimed guest at cultural events in Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Turkey, Singapore and Romania, where she read her poems, delivered lectures on various topics. Her poems and articles are published in many ezines and Anthologies of different countries.