Contributor: Lu Lin & Dawid Juraszek

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It's just a place
I keep telling myself.
Be here now
have fun
don't panic
do the mindfulness thing.
Air cold on my ankles
water cold on my cheeks.
I thought I was good on my own
didn't need them.
They would be ages away
if it were ages ago.
But it's not my call.
And hours don't translate into kilometres
miles
li
like they used to.
Not that I remember.
But that old cube on the hill
hidden in my blind spot
does.
To shift my field of vision
would be to move on.
Please don't mind
just don't.


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Lu Lin is Chinese, Dawid Juraszek is Polish. She lives in Norwich in the East of England and he in Guangzhou, southern China. Their work has appeared in various outlets in Poland, China, Japan, USA, and UK.

Contributor: Lu Lin & Dawid Juraszek

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Had to go
didn't know which way
knew only to go across
the place was supposed to be there
trees
lakes
bridges
fences
at dawn everything was different
knew it would be
but wasn't ready
alone and crushed, silent and deafened; waited.
If only she could do what she wanted
if only she could be who she was
but not here
not her
urged to find within herself someone else
or better yet, become someone else
by dusk she knew
putting on other people's clothes wouldn't do
they were wet anyway.


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Lu Lin is Chinese, Dawid Juraszek is Polish. She lives in Norwich in the East of England and he in Guangzhou, southern China. Their work has appeared in various outlets in Poland, China, Japan, USA, and UK.