from A Woman Looks Over Her Shoulder
The creature twists the knob
it's locked
Somebody
A woman looks
over her shoulder
and sees
nobody
falling
out the window
Nobody
pursues her
Mixer
A woman lives
on an island
in a glass ball
When the ball is shaken
rocks spiral and storm
and someone
is always
shaking
See the World
A woman is asked
the question
When are you going back
to your place?
Never she says
When I'm from there is no living
only surviving
That's why I'll never go back
count my blessings to reside here
count my wounds and bruises
to remain here
And wait for my children
to have the opening
I don't have anymore
not now with the holes unmended
with hands clenched
around a stranger's bedsheet
around a broomstick
around an old hand
An opening to throw
questions like this in the wastebin
Say:
I contain many places my place
is anywhere I please
~
The creature finds the right key
Twists the knob
it's open
Opens her third eye
and knows
This is the Whore's City
~
In the Whore City the coffee is always hot
and the doors always open
Everyone says yes
come in dear
just come in
no need to take off your shoes
All the houses have wood paneling
from floor
to ceiling
Insulated
so nothing ever comes
howling well well well
in through the cracks
~
Oh!
If you could just see it
look in
through just the right keyhole
with all eyes open
wide
__________________________
Brynja Hjalmsdottir
A Woman Looks Over Her shoulder
translated from the Icelandic by Rachel Britton
Circumference Books 2025
