‘The sun rises like a knife:’ 2 poems by Latvian poet Agnese Rutkēviča

Born in 1988, Agnese Rutkēviča, also known as Anna Foma, is a Latvian poet, writer, and playwright, and actor. She has published two poetry collections, the 2013 Jaunā Vāgnera klusēšana [The Silence of Young Wagner], and the 2020 Vietām cilvēki. She is currently writing her third book of poetry, The Measurements of Distance (Attāluma mērvienības). She lives in Valmiera.

We are peaceful in each other’s memories

Like horses in the field before sunrise

And the sun rises like a knife

That grandfather cut bread with in his dreams

we are far in each other’s dreams

like hands disturbed by wakefulness

a farewell and yet one more life

our memories are an entire bus station

where a stranger finds

the lost mitten of a child

and doesn’t know what to do

until he suddenly sticks it in his coat pocket

next to the other things

he meticulously saves

but doesn’t know

why

we are old and festive in each other’s memories

like Cathedral Square in Vilnius

and at night, when it’s overtaken by emptiness

and darkness like a foreign army

we are not the only ones

who can’t fall asleep

and the sun rises like a knife

that grandfather cut his bread with in his dreams

Heart,

forgive me for this cigarette

the wind blew out.