Luljeta Lleshanaku Poems

And yet
I recognized
That beloved face
Lacerated by the green grille.
...

For as long as we mirror one another
Like this, even distorted
In silver spoons, on glasses and on bubbly bottles
...

The truth is someone else's privilege, when a soul
Approaches, lock your door, let it pass
As the Jews did, forewarned in Egypt,
When it accosts your lips, show no mercy,
...

The front row desks were always empty.
I never understood why.
Second row was all smacking lips
...

In my family
prayers were said secretly,
softly, murmured through sore noses
beneath blankets,
a sigh before and a sigh after
...

In the village nestled between two mountains
the news always arrives one month late,
cleansed in transit, glorified, mentioning only the dead who made
...

Waking is an obligation:
three generations open their eyes every morning
inside me.

The first is an old child - my father;
...

My deskmate in elementary school
had blue nails, blue lips, and a big irreparable hole in his heart.
He was marked by death. He was invisible.
He used to sit on a stone
...

I.

Medio tutissmus ibis, the middle is the safest ground.
The embroidered tablecloth in the middle of the table.
The table in the middle of the carpet.
...

It's not time for a change.
For as long as I can remember
it's never been time for a change.
...