‘A word fallen out of language’ and other poems
by Milena Findeis
spreading like wildfire
in words
in images
in deeds
Fighting, it echoes back
awakens hidden feelings
prohibitions no longer apply
to destroy, annihilate, kill
is now desired,
permitted
with the enemy as target
Defining this enemy
by what driving force
through projection
onto the outside?
Symbols?
The warlike language
twists, spirals
further digitally
inside and out
Tracking the inner virus of war
that hidden, concealed
becomes public with an outer impulse
aggression breaking through
violent, cruel
erasing respect and dignity
Where and how do
fears touch
each other?
Where am I victim?
Where am I perpetrator?
Answer, I say
to my conscience
questioning turns
the whisper into a storm
DISintegrating MILLENnium
With promises
fed by crimes
the backward-looking empire
erases
diversity
other cultures
Dictators, often in duet
with global corporations
lay claim
to the entire Earth
empty the seas
build for a chosen few
fortresses of refuge in space
Word-WORK
In the mouth, the word
to taste
to chew
It hums in the ears
is rolled by the eyes
cut apart by grimaces
Spread with hashtags
processed in the news stream
until it ends, checked off,
in the cache
Shattered
Amid all the shards
awakening from powerlessness
a moment
of heightened pitch
and everything bursts apart
avalanche-thunder
in thaw
The pressure of
clenched ice blocks
rolls down the slope
like the rumble
of an erupting volcano
There, the ice
here, the fire
emotional force
blazing, rushing away
Eruption
love turned into hate
sparking
infectious
The first spoken
the latter hidden
miserably close together
MosquitoSound
Caught by
the narrow arms
of the rocky bay
vibrates the birds’
evening song
Close to the water
near the wood
of the dead tree
the rat’s tail
On warm pebbles
slime trails of snails
the chirping of crickets
in June’s haze
From thickly woven
green of algae
emerge plastic bottles
and brittle memories
Above the abraded skin
of the abandoned lover
swarms of mosquitoes dance
to the rhythm of the Rischok
Milena Findeis is an Austrian photographer and author
Note from the editor:
Hey there, it’s Kate Tsurkan, editor-in-chief. Literary magazines like Apofenie are able to remain up and running first and foremost thanks to the support of their readers. Please consider becoming a paid member today and helping our community grow.
