by Unknown
this terrorist looks like a bush
he trembles in the wind and sheds his leaves
but breath escapes from his mouth —
that’s quite a disadvantage
for someone who wants to be a bush
this terrorist looks like snow
he is soft and white, but
warm skin is a disadvantage for someone
trying to look like snow
this terrorist looks like a pretty girl
she smiles at me
she hopes to entice me to kiss her
to seduce me into her terrorism
through carnal knowledge
she is also at a disadvantage:
I prefer boys
this terrorist is riding in a hearse
with a sign “mortuary services”
and it’s true, his services are ghoulish
he himself doesn’t enjoy the business
he lies in his coffin
pale as a corpse
cold as snow
breathless as a bush
he’s so perfect
he has trained his heart to stop at will
at a checkpoint and accidentally
stopped it forever
he’d be so perfect
if you could only convince yourself that
he’s just a terrorist, not a human being
Translated from the Ukrainian by Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky