School
Photography by Merridawn Duckler
“The eye sees poems.”
Merridawn Duckler is a poet and text-based installation artist at Blackfish Gallery. She curated the first land art show in Oregon. Recent artwork in literary journals Poetry Society of New York, Barcopa Literary Review, Blue Mesa Review (cover) and an art play in the Ekphrastic Issue of Gasher.
www.merridawnduckler.com
X: @MerridawnD
www.merridawnduckler.com
X: @MerridawnD
Van Diemen’s Land
Poetry by Oliver Kleyer
There is an empty chair in my classroom.
The air on it is Aida-shaped.
Yesterday, she still sat there, while
today she is sent back to a country
where she is discriminated against
and persecuted. Still, they call it
a safe country. I never understood
bureaucrats’ logic.
True, she could be irritating at times,
infuriating and clingy, and now
that she is gone, she still clings
to my heart like a burr that I can’t
and don’t want to shake off.
Sometimes, she also could be
a little drama queen, and when
I see her not sitting there,
I become a drama king,
rehearsing a domestic tragedy in 5 acts.
There is an empty chair in my classroom.
The air on it is Aida-shaped.
Yesterday, she still sat there, while
today she is sent back to a country
where she is discriminated against
and persecuted. Still, they call it
a safe country. I never understood
bureaucrats’ logic.
True, she could be irritating at times,
infuriating and clingy, and now
that she is gone, she still clings
to my heart like a burr that I can’t
and don’t want to shake off.
Sometimes, she also could be
a little drama queen, and when
I see her not sitting there,
I become a drama king,
rehearsing a domestic tragedy in 5 acts.
Oliver Kleyer is a teacher and poet from Northern Germany. He currently teaches German as a Second Language in a refugee camp. He is inspired by his students, travelling & nature.
BS: @funnyfrogget.bsky.social
BS: @funnyfrogget.bsky.social
