‘Here you can listen to the sound of Wi-Fi:’ 2 poems by Latvian poet Elvira Bloma

Born in 1986, Elvira Bloma is a Latvian poet and museum worker, with a background studying cultural theory, museology, and theology. She founded and edits the literary magazine Strāva (Current) and Re:, a book series dedicated to forgotten authors.

Here you can listen to the sound of WI-FI

it sounds like a radio for aliens

I like the base

I want to hear pores open and close

it sounds like Depeche Mode and crystal castles

this guy is a legend

I want to hear how plaster peels off

Yeah Science, Bitch

it sounds like grasshoppers applauding and wailing in rapture, their little legs flexing and cracking like soft and fluffy popcorn

“oh, nooooo” (a scream vanishes in the distance)

however it does sound better than the connection tone for landline internet

unusual

nice

but cold

I want to hear how a tomato ripens

why can you hear an airplane in the background?

I hear how he’s downloading something from pornhub

you are all infected

brutal

simply no

I want to hear colours

honestly, it sounds good

I WAS BOTHERED BY THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS TODAY

1. How can I deny that everything else exists, except for snowmen?

2. Why does the body remind one of a fragrant truffle?

3. Do flies have faces?

4. Why don’t birds learn from their mistakes?

5. Why do I really want something sweet right now?

6. Why do the Georgians have such a cool alphabet?

7. Why do these sorts of monkeys exist? So their attacker would die of laughter?

8. Who is that “fellow poet” mentioned in the dedication of a poetry book I bought recently in London?

9. Why did I say thank you to the man, who let me cut ahead of him in line?

10. How do women normally greet their husbands after they return from prison?

11. Why does the body remind one of a pile of drying straw?

12. How can I go on living? No, nothing bad happened to me, I just want to know how can I go on living?

13. Why did a munitions depot blow up in Kazakhstan?

14. What did I get this zit from this time?

15. Is the desire to clean the stairwell a sign of old age?

16. If I was a rich art collector, would the first work I’d buy be Brekte’s “If you are reading this, you will die in one minute”?

P.S. It is simply wrong to laugh about animals. Even if they don’t care. Never do that!