Artwork with Poem by Irina Tall

There's something underneath the surface
as a designation of her words
And her thoughts
Possible
The one who dies at dawn
When the world wakes up...
But water, it's like ghosts
She herself is full of foam and dark Pisces,
Which seem like thoughts...
And everyone pesters her
Trying to take you deeper...
But it goes out like an unbloomed lamp
Which has no oil
For the scorching fire...

Outside the window, behind the shutters of the world
Only one moment is possible
Oversleep...
Hold in doubt
And listen
Unbearably arguing
Jackdaw with light eyes husky
Look at the small delicate leaves
And thin branches
And then leave
Hiding behind
With a locked door
Where there is nothing...

Among the music, inside the doubts
On empty stomach
Anticipating food
In the evening, then, after...
I'll collect everything I had
And I’ll hide it in the far corner
Dark closet
Which won't fit
My sad body
Drooping and dry...

And I will never dream
The sadness that has gripped the world
crazy
And the hands are black
With thin nails developing
Scarlet trembling heart,
A thought flies like a bird,
Gets tangled in your hair
Will break his wings
And without screaming...
The little head will hang
To avoid singing...
And the white flowers will scatter
Into dusty nothingness...

And the moon will be from the sky...

Irina Tall (Novikova) is an artist, graphic artist, illustrator. She graduated from the State Academy of Slavic Cultures with a degree in art, and also has a bachelor’s degree in design. The first personal exhibition “My soul is like a wild hawk” (2002) was held in the museum of Maxim Bagdanovich. In her works, she raises themes of ecology, in 2005 she devoted a series of works to the Chernobyl disaster, draws on anti-war topics. The first big series she drew was The Red Book, dedicated to rare and endangered species of animals and birds. Writes fairy tales and poems, illustrates short stories. She draws various fantastic creatures: unicorny the Exhibition is Irina s, animals with human faces, she especially likes the image of a man – a bird – Siren. In 2020, she took part in Poznań Art Week. Her work has been published in magazines: Gupsophila, Harpy Hybrid Review, Little Literary Living Room and others. In 2022, her short story was included in the collection “The 50 Best Short Stories”, and her poem was published in the collection of poetry “The wonders of winter”. Here are some of her artworks: