In Paradise
by Miriam Gordis
In paradise there are lemon trees
–when life gives you lemons
squander them, let them fall, and grow white
In paradise there is only one wall
–there are fish that have gone blind
from always swimming in darkness
In paradise there is no babel
–one language for poetry
and only one word for ticket
In paradise there is no memory
–lethe wiped clean of art
of suffering and of love
Note:
This week Miriam Gordis gives a dystopian perspective of paradise, producing an unsettling picture of a familiar concept. The final line is perhaps the most uncomfortable in the poem, as the idea of no memory, while comforting, is uncanny. In the same way, with “one language”, what becomes of art? Is such simplicity beautiful, or just grotesque?
Miriam Gordis is reading French & Czech at Jesus College, Oxford. She won first place in The ISIS Magazine 2014 Fiction Competition and her work has appeared in Cherwell, Vulture Magazine, Spleen Factory, Litro Online and The Ampersand Review.
