for Ebru
You say
‘every noun is a gift as long as it trails its hollows’
So we swallow the day’s nouns:
Melbourne Istanbul Salonico Ayvalık
Bazaar Cat-eye Soap PajamasWe become the evening
one by one
we become the blank thing
You say
‘nothingness speeds the mutation
invisible blossom seductive scent’
we become nothingness
we become the blossom that seducesAnd just then we return into our child body
we are sitting still just so
to bless our sisterhood?
whilst night blue distills the fear and mystery in the air
and right when our mum was about to press the shutter button
you and I
our delicate souls are reborn growing up again
we recognise the house we are in again:
the windows the carpet
plastic roses
the door that imprisons to the outsideWe don’t have a secret remaining
so we no longer wait to grow upbreathing through many a body
we sisters each other’s witnesses
you and I
while this memory shades off so do we
we laugh
we hope.
Elif Sezen
Our Night Afternoon
1 February 2017