by: Tom Veber
This is not a poem!
This is not a poem,
merely a random string of letters and words of a stubborn personality.
A vehement penetration of self-sufficiency.
Several breaths of emotions filtered through the sieve of acceptability.
This is not a poem,
for these are not my thoughts and my words.
I do not exist without you,
my ideas are a string of your outpours.
This is not a poem,
it is a shapeless dung made of repetition
and search of something outrageous.
Some social con
structs wrapped in cellophane.
Self-intended bullshittery
of yet another unheard poet.
This is not a poem!
SMALL SPACE
Small space in the middle of town,
for me and you,
where we can be truly us.
Small space,
where you can hide
when the sea becomes too choppy,
when sharks swim too close to your head.
Small space in the form of an island or a geyser.
A lovely living room with plenty of sand.
There we would be
the same as years ago.
We would paint the white walls with our own cities, our roads and streets.
We would make up our own rules and laws.
There we would be
pure, little and witty.
We would do and feel everything we want.
Perfectly free and fearless.
We would carry this bubble with us.
And whenever it is too loud, too hard, or too serous,
we would simply pull it out and be there again.
Together.
TEA PARTY
How badly it stings,
burns in your heart,
when you feel the warmth of a hug.
When you see honest love
of an old couple.
A child’s hand holding
a four-leaf clover.
The roar of an old lion
being dragged by its tail.
Spilling eyes of a young sorceress.
A helpless child, earwig, silence.
Blackness served in a porcelain cup,
with a silver spoon and a sugar cube.
Kill any attempt of happiness in the bud.
Lovingly hold a child’s head
deep under water.
Do not wake the queen of numbness, watch her dream peacefully.
Tom Veber is from Maribor, Slovenia. His poems have been published in journals Mentor, Dialogi, Poetikon and Literatura, as well as on internet poetry portals such as Novi zvon, Koridor-Križišča umetnosti and Locutio. His poems have been translated into English, German and Hungarian. In cooperation with MKC Maribor and Maribor skozi rožnata očala organisation, he organised the very first evening of LGBT literature in Maribor under the title Mlada slovenska lezbična in gejevska literatura z gostjo Suzano Tratnik (Slovenian lesbian and gay youth literature featuring Suzana Tratnik). In March 2019, he is going to publish his poetic debut Točka prelim, (Breaking point). When he isn’t writing or standing on stage he loves going to the mountains, playing cards and drinking tea – his favourite one being black tea with milk.