Saša Milivojev

STRAIGHTJACKET

Picture this:
You are screaming
Sobbing
Weeping
You feel something’s not quite right
You’re crying out with all your might
Sinking your teeth in as you bite
The milk is boiling
In anger and distress
You are scared witless

Draft is blowing through the cracks

Creaking creakers,
Blunt blunters
Excavators, tractors
The maul is pounding inside your head

Flaming fires
Nowhere to run; there is no door
Losing your mind
Banging your head against a wall

Everyone is growling at you
Soon, your mamma will be with you
To tighten your shirt from behind,

she’ll do her best

And inside your chest
A disk harrow is squealing
A harrow is harrowing
Your hands are tied behind your back
Your legs are struck by lightning

You are fighting hard to escape
Don’t forget to breathe before it’s too late
You are sweating and
Choking
Cannot be contained
To a bed you must be restrained
And yet you are resisting
Wriggling
Kicking

Everything now is white
Everyone is shouting
Walls are sliding.
Cutting and crushing

Now they’re saying

they can no longer treat you
All fingers are pointed at you

Grinning and grimacing all in vain
Like a madman laughing at the rain
There is no hope - you have reached the end
of your rope

It isn’t the pressure
No, it’s not the rage
It’s the Earth that’s trembling
The ceiling is falling
Look out
The flocks are bleating
The bells are tolling
For whom?
For you.
But it is not farewell, it’s true.

One hug is all it takes!
One embrace,
Someone may still take your side
And the panic will subside
Your fate is burdensome
Sleep now, my beloved one.

Saša Milivojev

Translated by

Ljubica Yentl Tinska