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The Ink Pods

Hanna Komar reads her own, ‘A Good Daughter’

Hanna Komar is an award-winning poet and translator based in Minsk, the author of two poetry collections (Fear of Heights in Belarusian and a bilingual collection Recycled). Hanna writes in Belarusian and translates her texts into English, focusing on the topic of domestic violence and childhood trauma a lot in her work.

Transcript

A GOOD DAUGHTER

You get kicked off the bus, drunk,

I press my doll to my chest

and stay silent.

I smile at your friends, those drunkards

and fools, like I’m good

and stay silent.

You dig the fork into the flesh

of your arm. I hand you a towel

and stay silent.

I bang on the neighbours’ door

to protect my sister and mum

and stay silent.

I watch you sleep where you fell,

breaking chairs and our hearts

and stay silent.

As you are growing old

and breaking down,

I am silently healing my wounds,

Your good daughter.

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