Volim kad si vesela
moj život si u bajku pretvorila.
Volim kad si sretna
moja ljubav prema
tebi je beskrajna.
Volim kad se nježno grlimo
kada se jutrima sretni budimo.
Volim kad se ljubimo
kada nježne riječi
jedno drugom šapućemo.
Volim kad se gledamo zaljubljeno
neka naša ljubav traje vječno.
Volim kad mi pričaš o ljubavi
ljubimo se, volimo se kao golubovi.
Draga plovimo morem ljubavi
srećo moja neka se nikada
naša ljubav nezaboravi.

Stjepan Orlić

They said I drowned,
but the truth is softer:
I laid myself down like an offering.

I spit river into their open mouths.
I bit the lilies in half.

Silk turned cathedral.
I let my dress balloon with river light.

The earth had nowhere else for me.

If you pressed your ear to the surface,
you would have heard me humming.
They didn’t write that part.

When they pulled me out,
I still had violets in my teeth.
I still had the nerve to look alive.

If ruin was the crown they gave me,
I wore it dripping.
I wore it bright.

You think you know the story:
girl, river, grief.

But the water was warm that day.
The sky was a soft ache.
I was tired of carrying everyone else’s ending.

So I wrote my own.

Not drowned.
Not tragic.
Not accepting their ending.

you held me
I finally realized
and I leapt into your arms like nothing happened
but it did.

and we both pretended that if we curled in
away
but together
we could continue to grow

intertwined

but my vines were killing yours
and your roots were getting entrenched in my own
suffocating

but we held each other
pretending not to count down the seconds

and in that moment
I realized I would
never be the one that got away
I was the one you got away with
taking the money
quite literally

and i in my brilliance
ran straight into a burning house
and sat down
waiting for it to burn around me

I could just as easily
see you with your hands around my waist
as you kept me company
while i made drinks for our friends
and i triple checked my math
and you took the one
I wasn’t sure about
and said it was lovely
because
you love me
as i laugh
and we both play pretend
and i’m making
what i will come to call, the—-