Poems / January 23, 2024

Merkwelt

Cynthia Cruz

The weather in this room is eel-black,
a gel-like ointment.

It is a cream-like substance
the exact texture of death.

It lives, like a dream, inside the body.

I have tried but I cannot
get it out.

I am showing you the history of life
through a series of unrelated gestures.

You can talk to the dead just like you talk to the living.

There is a blonde field and dark river
that seams along the edge of its forest.

A fracturing, television-like static.

Glitter and beads, animal, mineral.
Memory as a form of matter.

I have an accident every five years
and one year it won’t be accident.

Cynthia Cruz

More from The Nation

Cyclists waiting at railroad crossing in Shenyang, China, 1990.

The Dislocations of Shuang Xuetao The Dislocations of Shuang Xuetao

The Chinese writer’s fiction details how the country transformed on an intimate level after the Cultural Revolution.

Books & the Arts / Ting Lin

A child on a swing outside a residential building damaged by a missile in Kyiv, Ukraine, 2022.

An Absurdist Novel That Tries to Make Sense of the Ukraine War An Absurdist Novel That Tries to Make Sense of the Ukraine War

Maria Reva’s Endling is at once a postmodern caper and an autobiographical work that explores how ordinary people navigate a catastrophe.

Books & the Arts / Laura Mills

Why We Keep Reading “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Why We Keep Reading “All Quiet on the Western Front” Why We Keep Reading “All Quiet on the Western Front”

A new translation vividly renders the sadly evergreen influence of the Erich Maria Remarque’s World War I novel.

Books & the Arts / Paul Reitter

People enjoy a break in thunder storms on the steps of the Met Tuesday July 4, in Manhattan New York.

John Wilson at the Met John Wilson at the Met

Drawing from the depths.

Margaret Spillane

Dev Hynes performing as Blood Orange.

Blood Orange’s Sonic Experiments Blood Orange’s Sonic Experiments

Dev Hynes moves between grief and joy in Essex Honey, his most personal album yet.

Books & the Arts / Bijan Stephen

Why “The Voice of Hind Rajab” Will Break Your Heart

Why “The Voice of Hind Rajab” Will Break Your Heart Why “The Voice of Hind Rajab” Will Break Your Heart

A film dramatizing a rescue crew’s attempts to save the 5-year-old Gazan girl might be one of the most affecting movies of the year.

Books & the Arts / Ahmed Moor