Archaic Fragment, K.34

(from papyrus found in Africa, written in Greek)

 

     The mist obscured

                          a hammering

           red dust

                 warm to touch

 

                bay leaves

                          blown

                stumbling over stones

            and clouds

                      

             watch fires sputtered

                        speech was

                            fragments of clay

                     kissed

 

                             again

        the scent of olive trees

             brown earth in winter rain

                       my thoughts

 

                                 colder now

             lost at your window             

          I speak             black

                                          butterflies 

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Rimas Uzgiris' poetry has been published in Bridges, 322 Review, Lituanus, Prime Number Magazine, The Poetry Porch, and is forthcoming in Quiddity. His translations have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Spork Press, Modern Poetry in Translation, Hayden's Ferry Review, Two Lines Online, and are forthcoming in Lituanus. He also has book reviews published or forthcoming from HTML Giant and Post Road. He received an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers-Newark University, and holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.