poems by Adina Dabija

by Adina Dabija
click aici pentru versiunea română

 

Something Wild
 
There is something wild

like a red flower opening in the night.

There is something turning inside out

slowly and yet fast

like the blowing of a pink bubble gum balloon as you walk

away from a cheating lover

 

There is something wild.

You can’t see it, but it’s here

and that’s what keeps you alive.

Thanks to it, you see something else, not a tree

not a moon, not an elephant,

not a tree growing from the moon eating an elephant

but something else that the tree, the elephant, you and the moon

share in secret

something hidden

that holds the moon up in the sky

and the elephant up in the moon

and you riding the elephant

something very slow like a kiss

and yet fast, like the happiness of the line becoming a circle

something turning you inside out

that makes you really high

and really wild.
 

 

 

Sun-bath

 

Flock of white birds reaching for the sun

hundreds of birds abandoning their shadow

all in one movement

glistering feathers, burning with love

rubbing the air to give birth to a spark

that shimmers on your face

entering your pupil so it revives

the red bird of your soul.

 

 

 
Haloween 2013

 

Red and blue and yellow and green

how beautiful you are tonight in the Halloween basket

just before I hide you from my children

a feast of colors and smells

– Skittles, Twix, M & M

and other strange names coming from a strange world

in which clarity and confusion

mingle together around a big breath in and a big breath out

like clouds momentarily obstructing the sunlight

there is no warranty in this world

of red 5 and yellow 7

you knew someone and the next day he’s gone

hiding the basket of candies won’t prevent

cavities, cancer and a diffuse sense of powerless from happening

Rather keep your heart soft

and don’t be harsh on yourself

when you are left with a big basket of candies after Halloween

whether you eat it or not,

is less important

than spending this suspended moment of silence in front of it

letting the colors, the fragrances, and even their intrinsic vice

pass your heart and your senses

like clouds momentarily obstructing the sunlight

with a big smile on your face

before hiding it from your children.

 

 
 

I will never buy a cheap house in Pensylvanya

 

I swear I will never buy a cheap house in Pensylvanya

Romulus bought one for twenty thousand

You should get one too – he tells me,

The taxes are small, the air is fresh

You can retire here, get old and die peacefully.

But I think

The dogs can bark me just as well here in New York

While paying triple

Why pay less and get more

When you can pay more and get less

‘Cos that empty space that is left to you from that less you are getting

Is your feedom to watch the clouds changing shape

Some questions can only be asked on the edge of the abyss.