{"id":20776,"date":"2023-12-04T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/?post_type=stsp_text&p=20776"},"modified":"2023-12-04T20:30:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T19:30:21","slug":"poems","status":"publish","type":"stsp_text","link":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/poems\/","title":{"rendered":"Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sea-people<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She dives free into murky
waters\u2014seabed out of reach.
But upon returning to the
surface, she finds herself
inside a cage as if she were a
zoo exhibit. “You’ll die,” the
boy with the thick eyeglasses
says. “You can’t dive your
way out.” He sits cross-legged
upon water, and with the
same arrogance resurrected
people carry, he says, “The
sea starts to withdraw, and
your lips are turning blue.”
Sea water drips from her hair
on wet marble, and her
shoulders drop as she gazes
at the boy standing now
outside the cage. No
memories of how she ended
up here. No clarity on why
she listened to the boy and
didn’t dive one last time. No
awareness of why she
submitted to fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days before an Aten asteroid hits Earth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and it’s your funeral\u2014people keep asking me
why bother. This is happening, I say, despite
the futility of the thing. I don’t say that you
made me promise you\u2019d be wrapped in a silk
shroud and buried under the old willow tree by
the river where we\u2019d first kissed. Before, I
wouldn\u2019t have seen this through. I would have
buried you inside a box made of cherry or
walnut wood, leaving your body confined by
marble and incense in claustrophobic
perpetuity at six feet under\u2014my vows to you,
words in the wind. But now, as the world closes
to its ending, I can, finally, keep my promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

were
a
fish-bird
flying un-
derwater, wouldn\u2019t have
to breathe into paper bags by<\/p>\n\n\n\n

open caskets\u2014fresh carnations
roses and dahlias
cotton shoved
inside
her
mouth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sea-people She dives free into murkywaters\u2014seabed out of reach.But upon returning to thesurface, she finds herselfinside a cage as if she were azoo exhibit. “You’ll die,” theboy with the thick eyeglassessays. “You can’t dive yourway out.” He sits cross-leggedupon water, and with thesame arrogance resurrectedpeople carry, he says, “Thesea starts to withdraw, andyour lips are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20478,"template":"","categories":[56,11],"class_list":["post-20776","stsp_text","type-stsp_text","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-26-issues","category-lyrik"],"yoast_head":"\nPoems - stadtsprachen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale:alternate\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poems - stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sea-people She dives free into murkywaters\u2014seabed out of reach.But upon returning to thesurface, she finds herselfinside a cage as if she were azoo exhibit. “You’ll die,” theboy with the thick eyeglassessays. “You can’t dive yourway out.” He sits cross-leggedupon water, and with thesame arrogance resurrectedpeople carry, he says, “Thesea starts to withdraw, andyour lips are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/poems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-04T19:30:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/\",\"name\":\"Poems - stadtsprachen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-04T15:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-04T19:30:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/text\\\/poems\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Texts\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Poems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\",\"name\":\"stadtsprachen\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"stadtsprachen\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"stadtsprachen\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Stadtsprachen\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/stadtsprachen\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/berlinerliterarischeaktion\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/mastodon.social\\\/@BerlinerLiterarischeAktion\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Poems - stadtsprachen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Poems - stadtsprachen","og_description":"Sea-people She dives free into murkywaters\u2014seabed out of reach.But upon returning to thesurface, she finds herselfinside a cage as if she were azoo exhibit. “You’ll die,” theboy with the thick eyeglassessays. “You can’t dive yourway out.” He sits cross-leggedupon water, and with thesame arrogance resurrectedpeople carry, he says, “Thesea starts to withdraw, andyour lips are […]","og_url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/poems\/","og_site_name":"stadtsprachen","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen","article_modified_time":"2023-12-04T19:30:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@stadtsprachen","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/","name":"Poems - stadtsprachen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-04T15:20:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-04T19:30:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ssm_21-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/text\/poems\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Texts","item":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Poems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/","name":"stadtsprachen","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#organization","name":"stadtsprachen","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"stadtsprachen"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen","https:\/\/x.com\/stadtsprachen","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/berlinerliterarischeaktion\/","https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@BerlinerLiterarischeAktion"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/20776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stsp_text"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/20776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20777,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/20776\/revisions\/20777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}