Karina Borowicz
poet, editor, teacher, and author of four collections of poetry (one in French); winner of the Ex Ophidia Press Prize, the Marick Press Prize, the Codhill Poetry Award, and the Eric Hoffer Prize; named a Must-Read by the Massachusetts Center for the Book and The Millions
THE OLD COUNTRY
There was another country
always spoken of
with reverence.
I didn’t understand
why we’d left, I didn’t yet
understand the saw blade
of history. I was nourished
by nostalgia for a place
I couldn’t remember.
Wasn’t there a great forest,
a bison that would lap
milk from my hand?
The scrape of that secret
dark tongue.
A woodsman’s cottage,
shelves lined with carved
and painted birds.
Our fireplace was where
the stories were read
from a burning book.
Molten logs, lit from within:
See the shadow of a man
in there. See a terrifying
creature with wings.
See it all fall down.
© Karina Borowicz, 2021
Ex Ophidia Press, January 2021
More by Karina Borowicz
French tanslation of selected works