Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Katherine Gallagher

HYBRID

HYBRID

HYBRID

I have swallowed a country,
it sits quietly inside me.
Days go by when I scarcely
realise it is there. . .

          I talk to this country,
          tell it, You’re not forgotten,
          nor ever could be.
          I depend on you —

          cornucopia packed close
          with daylight moons
          and bony coasts,
          the dust of eucalyptus

          on my teeth; mudded rivers
          burnished smooth
          under the cobalt crystal
          of a lucent sky.


It is my reference-point
for other landscapes
that, after thirty years,
have multiplied my skies.
Close

HYBRID

I have swallowed a country,
it sits quietly inside me.
Days go by when I scarcely
realise it is there. . .

          I talk to this country,
          tell it, You’re not forgotten,
          nor ever could be.
          I depend on you —

          cornucopia packed close
          with daylight moons
          and bony coasts,
          the dust of eucalyptus

          on my teeth; mudded rivers
          burnished smooth
          under the cobalt crystal
          of a lucent sky.


It is my reference-point
for other landscapes
that, after thirty years,
have multiplied my skies.

HYBRID

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère