SurVision Magazine

Daisy


a man
unknown to me
was a daisy

he fit
in the palm of my hand
and lived in the pocket
of my denim overalls

until the moment
one of the big men ordered
to carry him to the place where
all the daisies sleep

another big man
dug a hole
and I put him there

dry and yellow, as he was

from the height of fear
a handful of earth
flew slowly

into the flower ovary





Time


She says
get yourself a bit of time
and offers me

a handful of sand
from the shore
where the sun is shining
behind her back

squinting
I advance my cupped hand
she pours exactly the half





Ash Seeds


on the
frame stairs
of a dilapidated school,
with pockets full
of green ash seeds

launching them
time and time again
without noticing

where they were landing

then running
back to the ash

in the autumn
the small ones
ripened
so to fly by themselves



Translated from the Ukrainian by Anatoly Kudryavitsky




Ivan Hnativ is a Ukrainian poet from Lviv. Born in 1990, he works as an English teacher and an English-Ukrainian literary translator. His poems and translations appeared in Litcentre, Soloneba, etc.