Bare life

Adam Zagajevski says in one of his songs
That we have to settle for a cramped prisoner's cell
Cobwebs covered cities, metropolises, countries
in fact, it covered everything that is called house, home
and all of this is interwoven with longing that once upon a time everything was or will be
different someday
Our bodies are exposed, stripped, decentralized
My interlocutor seems to be breathing as we travel illegally on German paved roads
As if to say, lean over
I lean in too
And I fall into the slow eyes, like Alice I sleep in the fall
I hear him say that there may or may not be a way out
All we have left is prayer
God will settle the score
He is not dead as they say
The man is not dead
I sigh and wonder if I am human, am I already dead?
I hold my breath and return to the nearest star
"Aren't these myths, all these unions, all this crap about attacking, not attacking
We are just players in some game we played as children, remember??"
I try to remember, but I keep feeling the policeman's rough hands touching me
I'm naked in every coat and I'm shaking with fear
And where are we going, to embrace death?

I melt in the endless horizon, the fabric is soft, happy substances flow through my veins
History is a schizophrenic record looking for good slaves.
Man is a historical idea, which should be understood in every language.
Or at least one would think so
"I think we will succeed there, if I succeed I will bring my wife and children
And you can find someone, a German woman"
He starts to smile, then abruptly stops the movement of his lips
"'What the hell, it's not all that dark, don't give up, hold on!"
He hits me on the shoulder
Before us, the flowers of evil sing their songs
It broke apart as we catch a glimpse of the shadows of the eve
Maybe I see my mother, my father, my house
The shy red ray of the sun hints that nothing is left
Even if we die, so what?

Emina Đelilović-Kevrić (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) After studying the b/h/s (bosnian/croatian/serbian) language and literature at the Philoshopical Faculty in Zenica she got her master's degree on the subject „Memory construction in the South Slavic interlinear community: typical models of the war camp experience in literature“. She is the author of the poetry collection „ This time without history“ and the short stories collection „ Erased lives“. Her collection of poems „ My son and I“ is awarded by the Publishing Foundation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021. In 2022 she won the second place in the international literature competition „ Isnam Taljić“. She is the winner of the second award for the best short story of the regional literature competition „Zija Dizdarević“ 2022, and she won the first place on international literature competition „Nastavi priču“. 2023. she won a third place on international poetry competition „Ossi di Seppia“ Italy.