Lena Bezawork Grönlund
Mercato, Addis
[stanza][lineate indent =9]red bicycles[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate indent =9]blue houses[/lineate]
[lineate indent =9]red bicycles[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate]I dream[/lineate]
[lineate]of blue houses[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate indent =6]red bicycles[/lineate]
Addis Ababa
This city
wakes with the mosques
that begin their days
praying, closing its eyes
to the sound of drums
echoing from the churches
out into the night.
Close
[stanza][lineate indent =6]Beza, this is[/lineate]
[lineate]dust[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate indent =6]this is[/lineate]
[lineate]seventeen[/lineate]
[lineate]years[/lineate]
[lineate indent =6]of[/lineate]
[lineate indent =6]dust[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate]at this market[/lineate]
[stanza][lineate]yet[/lineate]
[lineate]everything[/lineate]
[lineate]here[/lineate]
[lineate indent =6]carried me[/lineate]
~ Lena Bezawork Grönlund
Lena Bezawork Grönlund was born in Addis Ababa but grew up in the north of Sweden. She has a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Uppsala University and a B.A in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Montana.