x

Secret bleeding

They convinced her she was not immortal, and she

became mortal, a rhythm drilled into her,

x

a sweet disorder. She secretly bled and knew somehow,

the cave is full with uncontrollable light.

x

What she needed was a cave, yes, an occasional prayer,

a door among all doors, one simple greeting.

x

She wants to hear the lullaby of her delicate unfinished

business, what sort of scapegoat is she anyway?

x

She can almost remember the kiss, the honeysuckle breeze,

the anti-gravity. A woman in a child’s body, solemn

x

with tenderness, sipping her cup of tea in this bloody ordinary

afternoon, she dreams of all this in utter oblivion.

x

But all things glow darker in forgetfulness. What am I now?

she asks again. A stranger. Diminished. Returned.

x

x

After the lotus flower has opened

The soul splits in two:

One has been found buried in her own garden

The other re-awakened in gardens of omniverse

x

x

Elif Sezen is an Australian/Turkish multidisciplinary artist, bilingual poet/writer, based in Melbourne. Her collection of poems ‘A Little Book of Unspoken History’ was published by Puncher & Wattmann (2018), and ‘Universal Mother’ was published by Gloria SMH Press (2016). Her poems appeared in national and international journals and anthologies. https://www.elifsezen.com/publications