David Hadbawnik
from Occupations
1.
nobody ever remembers
what anyone says
learn to speak through transfer
of tension between bodies
every sentence a death sentence
reduce it to one word
wasted space in the house
awkwardly broken off in anger
4.
every now and then think
deeply about something you know
nothing about just to see
where it goes am I
in love it hits me
while crossing the threshold from
dining room to kitchen the cat
pausing there and the feeling
flashing through me almost without
having noticed I could be
yes this is how it feels
David Hadbawnik is a poet, translator, and medieval scholar. Books include a translation of the Aeneid (Shearsman, 2023); an edited volume, Postmodern Poetry and Queer Medievalisms (Medieval Institute Publications, 2022); and a book of poetry, Holy Sonnets to Orpheus and Other Poems (Delete Press, 2018). He currently lives in the Minneapolis area with his wife and son. With Chris Vitiello, he is the editor of Polis Press (polis-press.com).