Nina Kossman
In Her Own Words
“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air . . .
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven . . .
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast . . .”
Revelation, 16::17, 17:3 (King James Version)“
The kings from the world over
heard me speak with the seventh seraph
saw me pour out his bowl on the briar
I poured air over the earth
my kings have forgotten my sorceries
my grief I meted out as air
my city rose out of ashes
the famine fell on the day of a fast
the kings the kings met me in mind
with the ravishing of the grain
with the thousand-mouthed black flame of air
the fire inside my face
*
When life was for me an intoxication with air,
you came and set a match to it and it burned
I mixed its ashes with glue
and built a thin but durable house
it stood firm for 17 years
I slept in it for 17 years
unaware of the passage of time.
But you knocked on the door
and the house blazed up
and I walked out
into the light of a brand-new love
Translated by Nina Kossman
Page(s) 104
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