In the morning I wake up with fear of life

by Dan Sociu

In the morning I wake up with fear of life,

At night I go to sleep with fear of death.

And it doesn’t seem to portend a good day,
doesn’t seem to portend anything at all
the morning when
accidentally looking back
you discover in your shit
burned matches

“how beautifully you used to pray when you were little, Duïu,
your elbows on the edge of your little bed,
your cute little bottom up”

— translated by Adam J. Sorkin, Dan Sociu, and Mihaela Niţă