Art

A Mirror Behind the Clouds – Réka Nyitrai

1.

     The yellow robe

     I had a coffee date with a woman, who was rumored to have lived imprisoned in a mirror by the lion king.

     Watch, she said
     and started to peel back the many layers
     of her face:

     night-pond,
     a slender antelope,
     moon hiding behind the clouds,
     the scattered nest of an unknown bird—

     until all that remained of her
     were the dried rays of a sunflower
     fallen on the white tablecloth.

 
 

    2.
    Memory

    Like a spider
    of past evenings
    I saw you
    Gala Dalí
    descending
    from a rose stalk.
    Your soft, small body
    wore nothing, but a window.
    Through you I could see
    the reflections of  
    lost sunsets & a gull
    pecking at my lips.

   3.
   Before falling in love

    For Katalin

   A heatwave kept the citizens indoors.
   A water fountain occupied his dreams.
   The bugs in his gut rebelled.
   Doctors investigated his abdomen and found nothing.
   The TV weatherman was predicting a short autumn:
   A girl he used to chat with finally arrived—
   he prepared baba ghanoush and they read poems.
   His neighbor captured their moans and placed them in a jar.
   Whenever he watched porn he dreamt about his ex-wife.
   A fly landed on his head.
   He would have liked to take a day off just to watch clouds.
   One evening he realised he was ready to submit:
   he let the quince bush drop its heavy fruits into his mouth.