when the thunder god rearranged the sky
the first lightning struck our barn
and the second struck young kata
they buried her neck-deep
in the garden next to the onion beds
and waited two days
for her arms to sprout
out of the wet black soil
it was yet another miracle
the villagers had witnessed
our deaf cats meowing wretchedly
not hearing their own voices
nor the purring guts full of mice and kittens
and kata wore the lightning underneath her heart
now skipping
like a broken toy
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Excerpted from Initial Coordinates by Monika Herceg, translated by Marina Veverec, available via Sandorf Passage.
Monika Herceg
Monika Herceg, a Croatian poet, screenwriter, dramatist, editor, and activist, is the author of three poetry books: Početne koordinate (Initial Coordinates, 2018), Lovostaj (Closed Season, 2019), and Vrijeme prije jezika (2020). She has received many prestigious national and international awards, including the European Poet of Freedom Award 2024. A physicist by profession, she spent her childhood in the village of Pecki near Petrinja. A mother of two, she lives and works in Zagreb.
