The anesthetists discuss astronomy
elevating in the lift
while patients arrive in taxis
accompanied or not by family.
The universe
consists of 100 billion galaxies.
If there are sentient civilizations
on just a millionth of those planets
we are far from alone.
Outside: cold rain,
December.
A sick person
sitting in the waiting room
among frayed magazines
with his threadbare life
has only one single prayer.
Niels HavNiels Hav is a Danish poet and short story writer with awards from The Danish Arts Council. He is the author of seven collections of poetry and three books of short fiction. His books have been
translated into many languages including English, Arabic, Turkish, Dutch, Farsi, Serbian, Kurdish
and Portuguese. His second English poetry collection, We Are Here, was published by Book Thug in Toronto; his poems and stories have been published in a large number of magazines and newspapers in different countries of the world, including The Literary Review, Ecotone, Acumen, Exile, The Los Angeles Review, Absinthe: New European Writing, Shearsman and PRISM International. He has travelled widely and participated in numerous international poetry events in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. He has frequently been interviewed by the media. Niels Hav was raised on a farm in western Denmark, today he resides in the most colourful and multi-ethnic part of the capital, Copenhagen.
His most recent book, ‘Øjeblikke af lykke’ / ‘Moments of Happiness’ was published by Det
Poetiske Bureaus Forlag, 2020.
