TE21 Serbian Moments

Ana Ristović

Directions for Use

Snow in Your Shoes

7 AM ( fear of the ringing phone)

Cutlery does not a home make though an extra spoon comes in handy. New curtains do not a home make though some windows are best covered.

A ringing phone in the morning signals a death. Quietly, through the cobweb separating the mist of dreams from wakefulness, the I’m-sorry-for-your-loss, followed by a murmur, the prolonged murmur of the heart incredulous at the dumb silence; but only you can hear that heart clearly, not a bad connection, but a new connection not requiring

For a home to be a home, you need many items you’d rather have discarded. What Eskimos advise: build a sturdy igloo with snow in your shoes;

the same time zone or stable weather; the pretty fickle clouds, besides their daily capricious deaths, without memories.

You tremble when it rings again. On the other end, a male voice asks to speak to his wife, or some such, at 7 am, and you can’t convince him you aren’t she.

a safety pin, forgotten in the coat collar at your jugular.

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