starve pray sob swim

Feeling exhausted, hurt, unstable, seeking help – these are some of the existential feelings and emotional struggles that Sirka Elspaß addresses in her new collection of poems. From everyday observations, such as “how often don’t worry about it / appears in the thread”, to the guardian angel who throws in the towel and is no longer reachable, “has even turned off his voicemail.” The gaze falls on the speaker’s own body, their own precarious existence, before turning to the outside world, to nature, to animals, especially to the birds in the sky. Lamentations and bright harmonies, ranting and laughter alternate, while the search for comfort hovers above it all: “I am always looking for them / the angels / comfort via messenger.”

Sirka Elspaß’s search for comfort is precisely that: comforting. Despite all the vulnerability and pain, her poetry feels weightless. Helping us to overcome the painful points of being-in-the-world. Because starve pray sob swim shows us that life goes on, that we are not alone – and sometimes all it takes is one small moment, a humorous observation, a conciliatory verse.