Tălmaciu

Tălmaciu / Pamela Bruns

Sleepy town but for the train
Stopping at its station
And the phone at the post office
But that is all
The way to leave
Lest you take a pony

Chai and Pâinea at the meal
Perhaps some mushroom soup
And it was delicious
Coursing through my veins
Like the prayers before Ceaușescu

But they still exist
I heard them in the mountains
But Elaina did not believe
And her youth cried for fairness
And enough bread

I did not know then
Not of the ones who pray
I saw darkness, despair, and orphans
Believing ancient prayers were dead
Save their echo

Tălmaciu: Copyright 2021 by Pamela Bruns. All rights reserved.