The New World (2015) Columbus said the world was a big tit, and he wanted to go to the top— I packed my bags in silence but just as smug Columbus said we were in Eden we made it but I don’t buy it— something is still rotten in this state Show me a hero and I’ll show you a woman tired of fucking him— Columbus said we meant to fall off the map I’ve come to my stop at Astoria Blvd, a young Columbus taller than 3 cabs wide—on Columbus Day a homeless man lies shoeless at its base— I’ve just come from Columbus Circle and think it’s a gas—the man, the name, the day—beyond the overpass my bf waits for me with dinner Columbus said kill all the men and I do, one by one in my heart till I’ve had all the pasta with red sauce Columbus said take this ship as your bride, your lawfully wed, and the dishes stack like the dead, the sink no place for the sea so I’m not doing them.
another world (2019) on mars life proved impossible, unsustainable, so we packed me up good —is abundance of home a sin, is that why we're stuck here, guilty—entertaining fantasies of leaving it all behind, abroad, in another country another tongue is possible. the statue stands— columbus discovering redundancy, irrelevance, violence inside— the day changed in name if not yet tenor—i land at astoria-ditmars discovering nothing but distance, loss—high rises tall as the day is long, getting shorter—empty as rings, as my day is full—i know i've always known i don't belong here but you at least made it feel like home before kicking me out—
Marina Blitshteyn and her family came to the US as refugees in 1991. She is the author of 2 poetry collections, ‘Two Hunters’ (Argos Books, 2019), and ‘i take your voice’ (Switchback Books, 2022), winner of The Gatewood Prize. Prior chapbooks include ‘Russian for Lovers’ (Argos Books), ‘Nothing Personal’ (Bone Bouquet Books), ‘$kill$’ (dancing girl press), and ‘Sheet Music’ (Sunnyoutside Press). She is working on a novel about motherhood and grief.
