PAIN IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE Poem by Răzvan Ţupa

a romanian body knows how to sidestep decisions it feels that in such cases it can no longer justify its comfortable suffering for this with your entire body you must stay here until it's very late you can be a keychain or a gummed sticker but one day the music of breathing will disappear all on its own or conversely my hands ready to receive silence like a sandwich I waited in the bus station until I was on the verge of tears the air had the freshness of new leaves I'd prepared everything; men had taken their places I just had to watch out for the arrow-swift hordes of evening they were debating what part of me should be devoured first they couldn't believe it when I arose with easy strides to take charge of matters in my native language as on a skateboard