New Poetry by Louise McKenna

Snowfall in Auschwitz

Śnieg*
settling on the shoulders of trees
nesting in chimney stacks
lying between the collar bones of the eaves

Śnieg
tracing the spines of the rail tracks
forming a coverlet over a ruin
letting a concrete elbow poke through

Śnieg
sifting down from a cinereous sky
blunting the barbed wire

Śnieg
blurring the steps to the prison block
forgetting our footprints

Śnieg
trying to compete with the lightness of ash
and bury the dead
and bury the dead


- Louise McKenna  2019


* Śnieg – the Polish word for snow

Louise McKenna is an Adelaide poet. Her chapbook, ‘The Martyrdom of Bees’ was published by Garron Publishing in 2016.  Her work has appeared in Australia, the US and UK and include the journals ‘Allegro’, 'Animal, A Beast of a Literary Magazine’, 'Cordite Poetry Review,’ ‘Mascara Literary Review’ and ‘Verity La.’ Louise was shortlisted for the 2012 Fish Poetry Prize.  She is currently working on a full length manuscript.