The Unmoving
I fell asleep by a window
and the book slipped through my knees.
The ground moved backwards and forwards
settled between reference points.
The world felt clean,
in absolute isolation,
a time-capsule sent flying into space.
A missile woke me up half-dreaming
the outside watched
a man slowly walking between cars
on the high-speed roadway.
A blue icicle at the corner of my mouth
a few people passed by
out of nowhere
an angel offered to sell me a dog.
The music absorbed what was left of Rana Plaza
the spring barked at young trees
another man took my place
born out of my faults.
I got to the finish line
from one page to another
and found signs of life somewhere else.
Winner of twelve national Romanian prizes for poetry, Maria Stadnicka is a freelance journalist and writer based in Gloucestershire. She her work has appeared in International Times, Dissident Voice and in various journals and literary magazines in Austria, Germany, Romania, Moldova, Mexico, the U.S.A., the U.K., and Australia. Published collections O-Zone Friendly, A Short Story about War, Exitus and Imperfect. Forthcoming collection Uranium Bullets, 2019, Cervena Barva Press, Massachusetts, USA.
Website: Maria Stadnicka