situationship at sunset

Poetry
Written By Verena [*]

on mobile? turn phone sideways!

go to hell / with me / be my tripsitter
i could be your sous chef and your taster
i’ll lick the mold from your walls
we’ll skim our family albums for love

i’m a part time vegan / snatching lamb chops
with chopsticks / something venomed or just rotten
stems from laudations and tipsy giggles left in the hallway
the backyard glows softly in crimson and orange

this bloody reception is over / we’ve signed the petition
demanding the end of dress codes / we’ll be riding our bikes
gliding through nocturnal traffic arteries / my tongue reaches out
for a raindrop / and a cab driver takes the risk of killing a poem

Verena [*]

Verena [*] (she/they) was born and raised in rural Austria. She lives and works in Vienna, and abroad, whenever possible. Besides their freelance job as a stenographer at the Austrian Parliament, Verena writes poetry, prose and texts beyond genres in German and English. In 2020 and 2025 she was the Writer in Residence at Bowling Green State University / Ohio. Her second novel, Autobus Ultima Speranza, was shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature. She often writes in solitude and sometimes collaboratively.

Previous

Nosferatu Triptych
Next

The Siren Keeper