Leen Raats (born in 1984 in Antwerp) is a poet, writer and freelance copywriter living in Belgium with her boyfriend, a turtle and too many books. She’s obsessed with rock music, finding inspiration in even the heaviest of riffs and the loudest of screams.
Summer lilac
She knows time heals no wounds
and even time is relative. Without calendars
she wouldn’t even know how old she is.
Vacancy
Sometimes she dreams about waking up.
In an empty house full of hungry cats
her stubbornness keeps her upright
like a hollowed oak.
Hound dog
She knows Elvis cannot be
anything but dead, still sometimes
she just has to believe
in the harsh light of day
after a night of lies
she carries water in leaky tubs
to a turbulent sea.
Fatherland
Whether it’s something or someone
I’m waiting for you ask
with a lip that trembles
for reasons I don’t know.
We’re sitting on a hill
overlooking a city
where no one dares to believe anymore.
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