Return by Mykyta Ryzhykh

Image | Alexander Zvir

return

(based on news stories)

 

he thought that he was still at war– every morning trying to rescue grandmothers at bus stops

 

he asked to be tied up with ropes

he asked for an ambulance every day for no apparent reason

he asked for the day not to break so loudly

 

he thought about eternal return

he didn’t know what to do next

he drank and drank and drank and nothing changed

 

he thought he remembered how he had saved comrades in a minefield

 

he dreamed of Mercury

he dreamed of having a child

he dreamed that the creak of an old door was the sound of a enemy missile overhead

 

he thought he had forgotten how to dream

he didn’t know what to do next

he drank and drank and drank and nothing changed

 

he thought he remembered how he had finished off too many enemy wounded

 

he breathed like a dying man

he wanted to return to the battlefield

he changed his mind every hour

 

he thought he remembered the way home but he couldn’t be sure

he didn’t know what to do next

he drank and drank and drank and nothing changed

 

*  *  *


he fed the titmice on the balcony

he looked at his Facebook feed

 

he didn’t know what to do next

he drank and drank and drank and nothing changed


© Mykyta Ryzhykh


Mykyta Ryzhykh

Mykyta Ryzhykh, an author from Ukraine, now lives in Tromsø, Norway. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2023 and 2024. He’s published in many literary magazines іn Ukrainian and English: Tipton Poetry Journal, Stone Poetry Journal, Neologism Poetry Journal, Shot Glass Journal, QLRS, The Crank, Chronogram, The Antonym, Monterey Poetry Review, Five Fleas Itchy Poetry and many others.

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