by Alexandru Petria
you’re looking for the hole in the water,
you’ve heard it’s out there somewhere,
no one knows exactly where
or who has seen it,
it’s a moment when water takes a break,
you’ve worn down your life like an eraser tracing its path,
never quite figured out what you’d do with the hole in the water,
but you’re persistent,
you’ve got ointments for the blisters of your striving,
what matters is sticking to your plan,
when you find it
you’ll throw in
a flashlight without batteries
and wait for it to come back lit.
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Alexandru Petria (b. 1968) is a Romanian poet whose debut came in Tribuna magazine in 1983. Since then, he has published poetry, fiction, and essays marked by a raw lyricism and a visceral realism. His books include The Merchant of Aromas (1991), 33 Poems (1992), My Days with Renata (novel, 2010), The Diligent Executioner (2012), Shameless Prayers & Other Things (2013), and Before the Asteroid Comes (2022)., His novel My Days with Renata was published in Dutch by Nobelman (Groningen, 2014). His latest poetry collection, Triage Through Blood and Waves (2024), appeared with Tribuna Publishing House., Petria has contributed to all major Romanian literary journals and has been translated into Catalan, Hungarian, French, Spanish, and Dutch. After 1989, he was active in politics and independent media, founding and editing several local publications., A voice both tender and merciless, Petria writes poetry that shelters the intimate under storm clouds of social truth. He is one of the few contemporary authors whose work navigates with equal force the personal and the collective wound.
Last updated July 26, 2025