Lorelei Bacht

WHAT IS A BIRD?

Camille on her deathbed.

Frostwork on the windows.
Blue in the morning air, the possibility 

Of spring unmade - I will not go 

To the seaside. I will not paint. Why
Paint? The cry of the magpie now

Sinking into muted, broken hues. 

Rigid, the ceiling a growing vacuum 
Of perpendiculars. A stagnant violet. 

The unpaid bill, dusty doorstep. Why 

Do we remember the trivial, but lose 
The face? The voice? How the hands 

Flutter? Fluttered?

Lorelei Bacht is a European poet living in Asia. Her most recent work has appeared / is forthcoming in The Wondrous Real, Visitant, Quail Bell, Abridged, Odd, Fahmidan, Slouching Beast, Post-Script, Wretched Creations, SWWIM, The Wells Street Journal, and The Riverbed Review. She is also on Instagram: @lorelei.bacht.writer