Romana Iorga
Portrait with Crows
This evening turned the day’s
blaze into rain. Crows
beside the window, harsh
caws carving a space
in my stomach. The bright
spot of orange hue
in front of me stays.
My daughter’s painting,
untouched yet by artifice,
nor willed into shape.
So abstract was my day—
though bloodied
with details, it scorns
any ordering into some
form easily claimed
by memory. I’ve got
the scraps, the tidbits
of flesh and bone, charred,
unlikely to match anything
I’ve gladly stored
in my mind. I must find
a place for these bones.
The venerable ghost
has overtaken the cellar.
It creeps up the stairs. How
have I lived for so long?
About the writer:
Originally from Chisinau, Moldova, Romana Iorga lives in Switzerland. She is the author of two poetry collections in Romanian, Poem of Arrival and Simple Hearing. Her work in English has appeared or is forthcoming in Harpur Palate, Stoneboat, The Normal School, Cagibi, Washington Square Review, PANK, and others.
Image: Landscape with Ravens by Egon Schiele (1890-1918). Unknown medium (Copied from an art book). Size not specified. Date not specified. Public domain.
