I hold my head up high on pillars
of fossilized thoughts
mountains of worries
scaffolds of fears
hovering in a timeless maze
bleeding from barbed moments,
relentlessly regretting.
A tumbling, churning mess
a past without margins
where to begin making sense of it all.
My memories are raucous company
that overstay their welcome
and refuse to take off
their boots at the door,
tracking mud throughout the house.
Scotia Gilroy holds a BA in English literature from Simon Fraser University. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she has been living in Kraków, Poland, for over a decade, where she works for numerous publishing houses as a translator of Polish literature. She has also taught English at the Jagiellonian University, in the Department of American Studies. Her literary translations have been published by Asymptote, B O D Y Literary Journal, Widma, Comma Press, Indiana University Press and Terra Librorum. She divides her time between Europe and the off-grid wilderness of Northern California.