the gaze is full of stamps Poem by Monica Aasprong

the gaze is full of stamps


it shows where you have been


if there is a stamp you want to hide

then be shifty-eyed or sleep

with open or closed eyes


your gaze is stamped at all borders

every time you have crossed a border, I say

to the child, whether they are your own borders

or those of others



you can frighten others with the fear

in your eyes, I add


you laugh


that screwy laughter of yours

gets on my nerves


but you said I should

use the laughter-crying (that time

you gave me vocal cords as hard

as boards)



no, I say, you're wrong

you must be thinking of

the fountain-tears


but you said

that I should weep

with the laughter


that I should get a crying

that was a laughter


no I never said that