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.
Transl. from the Bulgarian by Tom Phillips