after Tomas Tranströmer
After a short bath,
he looks at me
expectingly.
I blink into the darkness,
before it fills me
for endless seconds,
his warmth and strength
flowing through me.
And while the tealeaves
tell me of temples and tombs,
the Guphta’s glory & Karbi Anglong,
no matter where I am,
with every sip I sit
in an armchair in the Espresso
House Gothenborg,
waiting for the most beautiful
sound in the world.
Oliver Kleyer is a teacher and poet from Northern Germany. He teaches German as a Second Language in a refugee camp. He writes in German and English. His works have appeared in The Zinnia Journal, Disturb the Universe and Cold Moon Journal as well as in anthologies like FromOneLine to another or Dadakuku 2. His poem “A rambling meditation”, published in Raw Lit” was nominated for “Best of the Net 2025”.
“Assam” has previously appeared in The Creative Zine, Issue 4, Fall 2022.