to slaughter memory

VII

The Verdict

The word landed with a stony thud 

Onto my still-beating breast. 

Nevermind, I was prepared, 

I will manage with the rest.

I have a lot of work to do today; 

I need to slaughter memory, 

Turn my living soul to stone 

Then teach myself to live again…

But how. The hot summer rustles 

Like a carnival outside my window; 

I have long had this premonition 

Of a bright day and a deserted house.

~ Anna Akhmatova

excerpt from Requiem, 

taken from The Complete Poems

with thanks to journal of a nobody