Marcel Inhoff

Dnepr

my mother was born under marl
death and seize and hide in the mountains
marl stone dry earth cold wind

sea ice waves are slowly rising
sharp thrusts, sometimes vertical
openwork lambs

memories burn in the blue night
born and lost on the riverbank
that's how they are close, they burn again and again

a lost and fat day
we lost the honey cup, we forgot
and full of hope for the days to come

memories and pride from the beginning and
a flower I grew in my coat
I get bogged down in us

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Marcel Inhoff (@sibaerisch) is the author of the collection Prosopopeia (Editions Mantel, 2015) and the chapbook Our Church is Here (Komma Series, 2018) as well as poems and essays in German and English. Their creative work deals with queerness and foreignness, as well as explorations of identity. They are currently working on their first novel. This poem concerns Ukraine, which is where their mother was born.

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