Malak Mattar, Untitled (detail), 2024, charcoal on paper
I Cannot Name Him
I know him by despair,
know his truck is the truck
that levels the trees I know him
late at night in bed, dark lake—
one great eye opening suddenly.
I awaken in the ink-fleck to the call
of my name and find no one there—
stuck breath, echoed third—
air static, staccato, disturbed.
Poetry
“I live out my life in the widening coils” by Rainer Maria Rilke
Translated from the German by David Keplinger
Poetry
