Content Warning: blood, death, dark themes
Özge Lena – Our Lives Lie Here
here lies
the feathers
of our wings
plucked
here lies
the powder
of our hopes
crumbled
here the ruins
of our joy
smoking
here our long hair
that we shaved for them
not to wind around
their fingers
here our faces
we hide under bird masks
lie down ill-shaped
and ashamed
here is our bodies
of the crimson
of a simurgh smouldering
and here lies the life
a wounded wolf
writhing in its own blood
in the middle
of a road
Best viewed on desktop, please also find a PDF file available to download here.
Özge Lena is a poet & writer based in Istanbul and an English language teacher. She has a published novella titled Otopsi (The Autopsy). Her poems have appeared in Ink Sweat & Tears, Green Ink Poetry, Fragmented Voices, Harana, The Phare, After, and elsewhere, also forthcoming in iamb. Her poetry was shortlisted for the Ralph Angel Poetry Prize 2021 and her poem Summerlepsy was shortlisted for The Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition in 2021.
Artwork: Remember Your Beginnings by Patricia Tudosa
(acrylic on canvas, 20x15 in)
Patricia Tudosa is an artist and writer who brings experience across continents, disciplines, and socioeconomic circumstances into her contemplative, often political work. Her paintings have been displayed in the US and Europe. Originally from Romania, she lives in NYC and is available for commissions. https://www.patriciatudosa.com/