Milla van der Have

temporal remains

 

trinkets. traffic. the endless blare of bachata. we walk
the city from one end to another. wherever we come

our pale tongue betrays us for what we are: extranjeros
the kind that carries money like a foreign idol, the kind

that breeds dreams only to steal them right back from you.

the streets crumble under our feet, shed their history like
a bad coat of paint. houses, structures, skeletons, it’s all

temporal. roots, like the breaking of skin, take time and
time is that most feather-like of things: it flutters.

so yes, if offered treasure, take feathers or cloth. anything
that’s soft against your cheek, anything that rustles

weathered, veinlike, brief. gold, after all, is only
the stink of the gods. a jaguar shines brighter

once the sun lets go.


Milla van der Have is a Gemini. She is the author of 3 chapbooks. Her latest collection Ox and Mandarin | Wayfaring Strangers is published in English by Dancing Girl Press and in Spanish by Ril Editores. Milla lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands. She is the host of Poetry Lit!