Sleeplessness

Sam Zamrik

Malerei mit Augen von Walaa Dakak, Eye and I, 100 x 90 cm, Acryl auf Leinwand (2018) — © Walaa Dakak, Eye and I, 100 x 90 cm, acrylic on canvas (2018)

She is my long-leashed mistress.
God-strong, she strikes against my chest
and lines my wide eyes with distress.
She caresses my cheeks and undresses
me to my entrails, then herself.

Parallel to my thighs she ties
my jittering wrists, then
these feet to my roots.

She fondles and twists
my rigid nerves,
these cruxes of pain.

She pries my eyes open
and firmly holds
these lids asunder.
At arm’s length, she tests
my waning strength
and keeps me pressed.

We do not lay,
we do not rest.

The fruits of my strife
are shivers and tears
and these alert ears.

I heed her best.

Sam Zamrik

*1996 in Damaskus/Syrien, ist Lyriker, Übersetzer und Musiker. Am Bard College Berlin erwarb er einen BA in Politik und Literatur. 2022 erschien seine Lyriksammlung „Ich bin nicht“ im Hanser Berlin Verlag. Im selben Jahr wurde er von mit dem Wunderblock Award ausgezeichnet.