G-NT3806KSJP

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you put your words in the past tense
as if you have gone past this

you put your words in a past sense
you say: their time has passed
yet these were my words
i agreed with them in the past

you say: that sense is tense
it lies around in a tent
it is attended to

you say: they once made sense
attended to the essence of things
that train has left
left you tender

you say: eine mund-nasen-bedeckung  
you say: наденьте рот-нос-покров
you say: wear mouth-and-nose-cover
you say: would you recover
let go of го речь
let loose your letters

what’s past is past
i say: what’s past is present
i say: what’s present is to come
i say: i came
is it raw?

es war
there was a war on





Inna Krasnoper is a poet and artist based in Berlin. Her Russophone poetry collections include Нитки торчат (Loose Threads), published by Voznesensky Center, and  Дорогой человек (Dear Person) from Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie. Her writing in English has appeared in SAND, Ghost Proposal, Poetry Daily, Pocket Samovar, Oversound, 128 LIT, and TILT. Inna is the author of two chapbooks: Over Sight (Eulalia Books, 2024) and Sealed (Black Sunflowers Poetry Press, 2024). Her full-length poetry collection dis tanz is forthcoming from Veliz Books in March 2025.