APRILIA ZANK

APRILIA ZANK

SPRING SONNET

When winter days turn darkness into light

And sparrow's voice is getting loud and gay

Brave March walks in with snowdrops fair and bright

And paints in green the meadows bare and gray

But soon he, too, must leave the conquered place

When lovely April and her court appear

She shows her princess face with charm and grace

And takes the reins without delay or fear

But lo, her moody quirks and whims beware

For she will play with storms and sun in turns

She'll kiss you softly with a breeze of air

And then she'll whip your face with snow that burns

So be on guard when she bestows her smile

Are you the one that she wants to beguile?

LILAC DAYS

a rainy day

in April

in this city

of many shades

in the mud

a twig of lilac in bloom

a splash of memory

at the other end

a room

cascading with lilac

vases, bowls, pitchers

bursting

with greedy garlands

dripping

with luring scents

from tender tissues

tense with anticipation

you could not come

that day

had good reasons

family duties

to me it was

the end

the last

of my lilac-tinged days

HEY JUDE

don't make it bad

give me back

my flower garlands

and the rainbow shreds

that caressed my ankles

with the softness of your palms

give me back

the feathers in my hair

the nakedness of my breasts

shimmering

beneath peace-patterned shirts

give me back

the boats we lay in

watching the moon

through delusive clouds

shaped

by the roundness of our lips

give me back

my marches

my fiery voice

my MLKs and my JFKs

who tuned the crowds

into the freedom gig

give me back

my wings

my visions

my craving for love

and my dauntlessness

APRILIA ZANK

Dr. APRILIA ZANK is a lecturer for Creative Writing and Translation Theory from Germany. She received her PhD degree in Literature and Psycholinguistics for her thesis THE WORD IN THE WORD Literary Text Reception and Linguistic Relativity, at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where she started her academic career as a lecturer. She is also a poet, a translator and the editor of two anthologies: the English–German anthology poetry tREnD Eine englisch-deutsche Anthologie zeitgenössischer Lyrik, LIT Verlag, Germany, 2010, and the anthology POETS IN PERSON at the Glassblower (Indigo Dreams Publishing, UK, 2014). Aprilia writes verse in English and German, and was awarded a prize 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. BAREFOOT TO ARCADIA, her bilingual collection of poems translated in Telugu by the eminent Indian poet and translator Dr. L. S. R. Prasad. was launched in 2018 in Hyderabad, India. Aprilia has received wide recognition in both western and eastern countries for her merits and achievements. She is active in many literary and artistic groups, a frequent judge in poetry and photography competitions, and a member of the editorial boards of advisors of prestigious literary platforms such as Our Poetry Archive (OPA), Sahitya Anand Literary Journal and Athena, Journal on Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2018, she was awarded the title “Dr. Aprilia Zank – Germany Beat Poet Laureate”, by the National Beat Poetry Foundation (USA). Aprilia is also a passionate photographer. To her, photography means the attempt to get a new insight into the essence of things. She has organised many photography exhibitions at the Ludwig Maximilian University and other cultural centres in Munich. Many of her images are prize winners and have been selected for poetry book covers.