Ctrl+Z
They give us Z
and we give them ctrl+Z or cmd+Z
ctrl-tZar
balanced by a clown
cult of each personality
and therefore of none
poems are quite mute
complex meaningless empty
because if the story then it’s bullshit
because if allegory, then it’s nonsense
because if hyperbole, then at once it’s a rocket and bomb emoji
because if understatement, then it never existed
I wrote in advance
as if it was word under the bridge
from the first sound, to hear
to see from the first glance
to know on the first try
until then, I won’t accept god*
until then, I won’t accept glitches
fear frosted the soul**
scarred the flesh
if the game is foul
choose to be the rules
soon everything will be rich here
vs
clothing for everyone who ever lived has already been sewn
a direct quotation from Taras Shevchenko
** a direct quotation from Vasyl Stus
Ctrl+Z
вони нам z
а ми їм ctrl+z чи cmd+z
контроль-цар
врівноважений блазнем
культ кожної особистості
а отже жодної
вірші тихі німі
складні ні про що ніякі
бо коли історія то брехня
бо коли алегорія то казочка
бо коли гіпербола то зразу бомба-ракета
бо коли літота то й не було одвіку
писав наперед
ніби у word дивився
з першого разу чути
бачити з першого разу
розуміти з першого разу
а до того я не знаю бога*
а до того я не знаю баґів
зашпори в душу зайшли**
згрубіли плоттю
як погана гра
прав за правила
тут скоро все буде багате
vs
одяг на кожного хто будь-коли жив вже пошитий
* пряма цитата з Тараса Шевченка
** пряма цитата з Василя Стуса
.
Empty Set
I don’t spread a city of sensitive nature.
we hid the city from view so you can decide
if you want to see it
a crossed-out eye
sees anyway
how I close my eyes tightly
and continue to see
through
the eye, crossed-out
like a road sign on the exit out of the sensitive city
I see
the Devil, dressed in post-truth
like in a looted NFT rug
∅
не розгортаю місто чутливого характеру
ми приховали місто щоб ви могли вирішити
чи хочете його бачити
закреслене око
все одно бачить
як я заплющую очі
і продовжую бачити
крізь
око закреслене
як знак на виїзді з міста чутливого характеру
я бачу
диявола вбраного у постправду
як у вкрадений nft килим
Mykhailo Zharzhailo is a poet, essayist, and performer. He is the author of Karma Militia (Smoloskyp, 2014) and Unsupported Characters (KNXT, 2020). He is the winner of the Smoloskyp competition (2011, 2012), and the participant in the anthology of Young Ukrainian Poetry of the Third Millennium (A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, 2018). His works appeared in such magazines as SHO, Ukrainian Literature: A Journal of Translations, Context, Paradigma, Litcentr, Soloneba, Babylon, Nekudataim, Kontent, Radar, Salon Literacki, Helikopter, and others. His poems have been translated into Polish, German, English, French, Czech, Spanish, Russian, Belarusian, and Hebrew. Based on Mykhailo’s poems, the mini-play “The Dead General’s River” was performed by the L’viv theatre “Sklad 2 ‘0” (2015). He is the co-founder of the media poetic group AETHER: Media Collaboration in real-time (2016), the author of the project “Blackouts of Constitution” (2018), and the initiator of the virtual exhibition “Blackouts of Law” (2021).
R.B. Lemberg is a poet, fantasist, and professor living in Lawrence, Kansas. R.B.’s LGBTQIA-themed books were shortlisted for the Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and other awards. R.B. was born in L’viv, Ukraine. Follow them on Twitter at @rb_lemberg
