"3.30" by Radka Thea Otipkova

3.30

I need you to breathe
in this ending world
wake up warm wake up with a thought
of toast and tea speak again
in that voice still thick with sleep
of Rimbaud's sudden silence
the vagueness of wolves of grief
Now this
morning not yet dawn
you turn
with much rustling undulation
move on towards another dream
If ocean liners tossed and turned
this is how they'd do it
If mountains could love you
and roads
and sunlit fields
this would be how

Radka Thea Otipkova

RADKA THEA OTÍPKOVÁ studied English as a second language at the University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic, where she also started her teaching career. Her work has appeared in B O D Y, The North, Tears in the Fence and other journals. Her collection was shortlisted in the 2016/17 Poetry Business International Book and Pamphlet Competition, and her poem “Coup de Grâce” was shortlisted in the 2017 Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition. In 2019 she won The Waltham Forest Poetry Competition. She has been nominated for a Pushcart and a Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.

Headshot: Frank Harris

Photo Credit: Staff