Dear passengers

The hospital – network of corridors,

memory regularly scrubbed, grey zone

of meeting and farewell, portal past which

calendars no longer work.

You go in quietly, on tiptoe, and above

is intensive care – international airport

with bedridden clients.

‘Dear passengers,’ came the silent voice 

of the pilot with folded wings. 

‘We’re about to take off.

Loosen your seatbelts, please.’

‘What’s he saying?’ asked

the man with an amputated leg.

‘It’s not about you,’ replied

the woman in a coma.

Translated by Tom Phillips

The original Bulgarian text was published in:  ‘Dear Passengers‘ (2018), Izdatelstvo za poezia DA, Sofia, Bulgaria; 

The English text appeared first in: Blackbox Manifold