LISA SÜß - POEMS

Lisa Süß is a German poet based in Amsterdam. Her work has been published in Literary Yard and Tint Journal. She is currently sharpening her tools at the International Writers' Collective.

​Stuck in made-up worlds

A boy eats a pear -
the sweetness of the fruit absorbs
all his thoughts,
he does not think about tomorrow,
he does not think about whether
democracy is over
or his pension plan
or whether pensions will even be a thing
when he is old,
which will be in 2073,
which doesn’t even seem like a year
that could be real.
When I was his age
I owned an atlas for children printed on
dead trees with pictures of
polar bears and no robot had beaten a 
human at chess and
a year had four seasons
one of which carried pears.
Golden, heavy fruit
ripe with sunshine.
I used to eat them
absorbed.
Recently published by Literary Yard. https://literaryyard.com/2019/08/07/stuck-in-made-up-worlds/

​Temporary beauty

When the morning sun hits the silver faucet in our kitchen, 
it lights up brilliantly. 
Can you look at it safely? You cannot look directly into the sun
but you can look at the moon
and when you think about it, the moon achieves its 
temporary beauty by reflecting the sun.
So, I guess it must be safe.
Sometimes I turn on the water and let it run to increase the spectacle.
Then I think of the recent water crisis in Cape Town and feel bad. 
Maybe you know the feeling:
a mix of guilt and glee,
like fireworks or drinking special occasion wine on a Wednesday evening. 
Besides, this isn’t Cape Town. It’s the Netherlands and 
my bike cloth alone collects more water than Cape Town had all summer.
A bike cloth is an ordinary kitchen cloth.
I use it every morning after night rain and every evening after day rain.
A lot of water, but little beauty.
When I get back home tonight, the sun will be gone and the faucet will be 
dull and ordinary again.
Mundane limescale and a family of unwashed dishes.
A wet cloth waiting to dry.
So, while it lasts I enjoy the magic of the silver faucet and the water
reflecting the dangerous morning sun, wastefully, beautifully.

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