Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Ellen Deckwitz

HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK

He said we need to talk
and I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak

and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement

and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.

HIJ ZEI WE MOETEN PRATEN

HIJ ZEI WE MOETEN PRATEN

en ik zei okay, laat me even
mijn labello pakken, dat praat
een stuk makkelijker

en ik gleed nog voor hij doorhad
wat er aan de hand was in mijn tas.
Zonk naar de bodem, langs
mascara, doekjes, ons nog te
ondertekenen samenlevingscontract

en bereikte de bodem van mijn tas.
Daar nam ik plaats. En heel af en toe

staarde ik omhoog en zag een wanhopige
mannenhand naar me graaien. Die hand
noemde ik God.
Close

HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK

He said we need to talk
and I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak

and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement

and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.

HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK

He said we need to talk
and I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak

and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement

and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.
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