It takes years
to fill in the blanks:
a large bird or something worse
than a wolf
pulling at the sheets.
The old man from Vilnius
cooing like a pigeon.
How many pieces of silver?
The arrangement,
the positioning
of hands and feet
like someone sleeping.
Thoughts that die like stars.
Mother! The cost of shoes
and butter. Floating
like a moon looking down
from a space
where no one can touch her.
Click here to read Elisabeth Murawski on the origin of the poem.
Image by engin akyurt on unsplash.com, licensed under CC 2.0.
Elisabeth Murawski is the author of Alias Irene, Heiress, and Zorba’s Daughter (May Swenson Poetry Award). Still Life with Timex won the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize. Voyage to the End won the James Tate Poetry Prize 2025. A native of Chicago, she currently lives in Alexandria, VA.
Latest posts by Elisabeth Murawski (see all)
- Cicero, IL - September 22, 2026
- Seventy Miles from DC Roses Rioting in November - June 23, 2025