​Poems by Olaf Clemensen 

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when Adam gave names to the animals
names similar to cookies and sandwiches and little glasses of tea with lemon
he named all the animals who made it, who survived, who crawled out
from beyond the river
who crossed over the rickety planks put down instead of bridges destroyed by bombing
when he handed out names
a few cardboard boxes of names were left over for those
who still remained among the demolished buildings under the charred pines in the bomb shelters of their dens
there’s so much tea still left, too
maybe they’ll get out of there yet
maybe they’ll get carried out but probably not
so many names will be left forever without their animals
and where is my person who should be called Eve
my rib
flesh of my flesh?
your rib
you no longer have ribs
such grief
when you slept
Kadyrovites cut the rib out, took it to a kindergarten and raped it
after that, they killed it
look, where it was supposed to be there’s a black empty hole
so black and so empty that even a flashlight on God’s forehead won’t help
illuminate this emptiness
at least that’s what we all think
at least for now that’s how we feel ….
​
 
Translated from Ukrainian by R.B. Lemberg
​
First published on Chytomo.com

​Olaf Clemensen (1976) is a writer, painter and an art scholar. He graduated from the National Academy of Fine  Arts and Architecture in Kyiv. He is the author of the book “The ATO Summer” (2015).

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