The Eighteenth Detachment: Ivan Gaćina

Wading through frozen water, I look for you above the sunken Titanic

while a hoarfrosted timeless pen

follows the blind chords of Elvis Presley

creating broken hearts from colorful clouds.

Origami butterflies scatter the heart sparks

through riddles crisscrossed by the puzzles of fate

as the fisherman pulls the net out of the vortex of life,

and love letters sink into the mystical river Lethe.

On the waves, a forest fairy swings  

forgotten words of a melodious tone

while from the sea salt pedestal

I build a castle of verses by memory.

I hastily look for faded photos

swung by the pendulum of unforgetfulness through the cobweb

while the raftsman bridges the seasons

in the flickering pupils of a blazing constellation.

Running past a blossoming lavender bed

an express train carries away the unwritten desires

where the modus operandi of bygone times

precipitates through the eighteenth detachment into the abyss.