BANAL VERSE
by Andreea Scridon
Lapis Lazuli.
Only two things
on this planet
compare to it:
the blue of Voroneț
and that of the Morpho butterfly
but we’re not talking about nubility,
we’re talking about iridescence,
or the one time you showed yourself weak
enough for a lifetime…
maybe this blue will heal you
of the disease
whose name you have forgotten,
the disease you
don’t want
to be healed of…
Learning to Swim
this heart is an empty swimming pool
this heart is a walnut tree with arthritis
this heart is a wasted gazebo
and a canine exposition
and a polar expedition
and a lonely turret
sieged
and kidnapped like a fair princess
I won’t play anymore
an archangel says
he goes outside
to smoke a cigarette.
About the Poet: Andreea Iulia Scridon is a writer and translator from Romanian to English. She studies Creative Writing at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Their work has appeared in Asymptote Journal, World Literature Today, WildCourt, E·ratio Poetry Journal, Harana Poetry, and elsewhere. They are an editor at Asymptote Journal and E·ratio Postmodern Poetry Journal.