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FeaturedSpotlight on Ukraine

Child in a Lightbulb

1

In a tree — a child

In a blooming cherry tree — a child
in a white gown

White on white
in the night —
a child, warm from sleep

Climb a cherry tree
said the voice
in the night

All alone in a tree
in a globe of white

Her house on fire
shadows fluttering
bursts of light, shouts

Be with me, don’t
abandon me don’t reveal

Tremble with me
my tree, like a boat

Lift me up, my tree
like a hot air balloon 

2

Like a wire
in a lightbulb
in a tree — a child

Current
passing through
filaments of limbs

Thin taut body
glowing in the dark
radiating heat

She thinks

anyone can
                  see me                  

            this can’t
        be           

  wake up   wake up

3

Covered in drops of dew
a fruit, I fell from a tree

Gown clinging
to my skin

Heart clinging
to my ribs

Tongue against my palate
like a large slug

Silent, I lay
and watched

as the walls of my home
collapsed

my flaxen hair
turning white

4

Taken out of the flow
of time, I stand
in the presence of
the things that are

All my moments condensed
to a single point

I’m here and also
there

many in one
unified

In me, like a present —
a belief in my own
existence

 

 

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