Turanj, September 1995
a river crossing
as over the Styx
time hangs here
heavy with loss
suffocating houses
pocked
profane
eviscerated
guts rotting whitely
on the street
the private bared
for anyone to see
if anyone
were there
to see)
above all
a depth of silence
in which no bird sings
no dog barks
no-one cries
time
only time
hanging heavy
blade of a guillotine
waiting to fall
Nick Carding is an Englishman now living in Croatia. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in print and online in Europe, USA and Australasia.
Note: Turanj, south of Karlovac in Croatia, was on the front line between Croatian and Bosnian Serb forces during the conflict of 1990-1995.