Ööbik

Triin Paja

a thrush nightingale gives us the smoky,dark wine of his song. I prefer his namein my tongue, ööbik. öö, meaning night.the moon does not rise when you touchmy skin, asking to be touched. askingwhy I do not sing. you drink fromthe water well of my mouth and I saythis is not a song, it is your facedrinking your reflection.still, your hands, their nocturnes.the furrows of a tree you wear. to desiredeeply is to be full of sparrows, but sexis a ghost. I am caressed and caressedfor I am younger than dust, but I amwaiting for a promise: if I cannot touch,or be touched, the earth will still want me.I am trying to listen. when a bird losesits hearing, its ability to sing decaysin a single day. I am trying. I carryyour weight for a while, a crackin the marble of my ribcage. in the morninglight weighs as much as a cygnet—like the birds, I only kiss the black barkof a tree and my heart is not a wind-uptin bird, it sings for no one, onlyfor the sky it marries.

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Triin Paja lives in rural Estonia. Her poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Portland Review, Adroit Journal, Room, and Malahat Review, among others. She is the author of a poetry collection in Estonian, Nõges (Värske Raamat, 2018), recipient of the Betti Alver Literary Award.

Malahat Review 206

Issue 206

Victoria, British Columbia
Canada

University of Victoria

Editor
Iain Higgins

Managing Editor
L'Amour Lisik

The Malahat Review, established in 1967, is among Canada’s leading literary journals. Published quarterly, it features contemporary Canadian and international works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction as well as reviews of recently published Canadian poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction.

The Malahat Review is dedicated to excellence in writing. Its aim is to discover the most promising of the new writers and publish their work alongside the best established writers, to present work accurately and attractively to readers, and to increase awareness of Canadian writing in general through perceptive critical comment.

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