Everyone wants to run away
Let's run away, love. Let's fly faster than the incoming storm.
My back burns. The eyes of our chasers pierce holes in my side.
Throw the hairbrush, love. Where it touches the ground,
the woods will grow behind us, and we'll hide.
Let's run, love. Let's fly like demons set loose by a curse. My body hurts
from the dog bites. Love, throw the knife behind us. Where it falls,
a mountain will rise, and we'll escape.
Let's run love. Let's fall into the deep together. My hair is on fire,
and I hear our hunters' boots. We're close to the border, dear,
and the patrol has orders to shoot. Throw my scarf behind, love.
The Danube will stretch as far as we can see. The soldiers will sink
into its hungry mouth, and we'll be free.
Claudia Serea is a Romanian-born poet who immigrated to the U.S. in 1995. Her poems and translations have appeared in 5 a.m., Meridian, Harpur Palate, Word Riot, Blood Orange Review, Cutthroat, Green Mountains Review, and many others. She was nominated two times for the 2011 Pushcart Prize and for 2011 Best of the Net. She is the author of To Part Is to Die a Little ( Cervena Barva Press), Angels & Beasts ( Phoenicia Publishing, Canada ), and A Dirt Road Hangs from the Sky (8th House Publishing, Canada ). She also published the chapbooks Eternity's Orthography (Finishing Line Press, 2007) and With the Strike of a Match (White Knuckles Press, 2011). She co-edited and co-translated The Vanishing Point That Whistles, an Anthology of Contemporary Romanian Poetry (Talisman Publishing, 2011).
Let's run away, love. Let's fly faster than the incoming storm.
My back burns. The eyes of our chasers pierce holes in my side.
Throw the hairbrush, love. Where it touches the ground,
the woods will grow behind us, and we'll hide.
Let's run, love. Let's fly like demons set loose by a curse. My body hurts
from the dog bites. Love, throw the knife behind us. Where it falls,
a mountain will rise, and we'll escape.
Let's run love. Let's fall into the deep together. My hair is on fire,
and I hear our hunters' boots. We're close to the border, dear,
and the patrol has orders to shoot. Throw my scarf behind, love.
The Danube will stretch as far as we can see. The soldiers will sink
into its hungry mouth, and we'll be free.
Claudia Serea is a Romanian-born poet who immigrated to the U.S. in 1995. Her poems and translations have appeared in 5 a.m., Meridian, Harpur Palate, Word Riot, Blood Orange Review, Cutthroat, Green Mountains Review, and many others. She was nominated two times for the 2011 Pushcart Prize and for 2011 Best of the Net. She is the author of To Part Is to Die a Little ( Cervena Barva Press), Angels & Beasts ( Phoenicia Publishing, Canada ), and A Dirt Road Hangs from the Sky (8th House Publishing, Canada ). She also published the chapbooks Eternity's Orthography (Finishing Line Press, 2007) and With the Strike of a Match (White Knuckles Press, 2011). She co-edited and co-translated The Vanishing Point That Whistles, an Anthology of Contemporary Romanian Poetry (Talisman Publishing, 2011).
