TEMPORARY CITY

walking
in the evening
along the banks
of the creek, as the sky is lighted by the glow
from the hothouses, farther on the dump, the street,
the pond, the hospital, farther still garages
and the dried tops of pine trees

here in the spring
a nurse was raped as she walked
to work one morning
and here, on this bridge,
you were beaten, kicked
by three men, healthy, uncomplicated, laughing
(it was on some holiday)

then we looked in all
the ditches for your glasses, shining our lights
into the shallow water, but could find
nothing: no frames, no lenses, not a single
face or significant mark

only muck, only pieces of things, discarded toys
a glove
and your large black beret
which we I pulled from the water

(Nijolė Miliauskaitė)