Natalia Antonova

Stripes

I didn’t notice tears making their escape down my cheeks Until you caught them with your tongue Raised yourself up and said, “What?” Your eyes were sea glass in the gathering dark. I didn’t love, but the evenings went down too fast and made me drunk And you were the right height, your face was proportional,Continue reading “Stripes”

When I am old

When I am old and grey and full of sleep Invite the light in from the ledge and drop a beat Make the floors shake, enrage the neighbors Wake the street When I am old and grey and full of sleep.

International Women’s Day and some women writers I admire

For some reason (possibly because I’m very lucky or because I have the habit of ignoring the world around me), I get surprised when men say sexist stuff to me about my work. I was in a Moscow bar recently on a dark and stormy night, and a typical twatty overpaid British expat man of the sortContinue reading “International Women’s Day and some women writers I admire”

Bug, tooth, moon

There once was a woman who gave up financial security, doctor’s appointments, decent living conditions not involving very large bugs, and other important things in order to become the true version of herself. And the true version of herself was a version that no one was particularly interested in. Aside from a handful of menContinue reading “Bug, tooth, moon”

My sweetest friend

In the early 1990s, in the weeks that led up to our departure to America, I remember walking with my father and cousin on the big stadium across from our building in Kiev. The nights were clear, and something about the lights from the more well-lit blocks of town made the sky above our headsContinue reading “My sweetest friend”