Kamil Czyz
Kamil Czyz was born and raised in Olsztyn, Poland and now he lives and writes in Gdansk. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming in NonBinary Review, The Scriblerus, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, Detour Ahead, Coffin Bell Journal, Barzakh Magazine, The Pointed Circle, The Athena Review and FLARE: The Flagler Review amongst others.
Danzig, September 19th, 1939
These are the streets where we walk on the bones of the dead.
These are the fields of golden dreams and neutered despair
covered with petals of silence.
This is the promised land. Winter seems to be
far away. Sparrows crowd around puddles splashing
water in beams of light. They chirrup little stories
in rainbows and laugh at tired dogs waiting
for their owners outside cafes.
Cars are not afraid
of the lazy morning. Hustle evaporates with small talk
and you’re not tired. You’re not angry at remnants of night
still lingering in your mind.
The fog lifts with each word.
Broken poems slosh
against closed blinds. They’re
more and more useless with each day
until there is not much left
but whimper,
delusion of a delusion,
dream of a dream,
false awakening.
When messiah finally comes, he comes as
a man,
erect like a clenched fist he salutes the crowd from the
open top limousine. He slices through a multitude of faces
spilling in unending agony onto balconies and sidewalks.
Girls in white throw flowers
underneath wheels
and smile like only children can,
or those unable to look into their own future.
Sheila-Na-Gig online 