alright, i have to say it: so the daisies do die,
also the ducks, also the children frolicking green-kneed-
they learn Algebra and then they forget it,
they get mortgages and get prejudiced,
they lose themselves, lose their senses.
if they ever step through flowers of this same garden,
tomorrow or a decade or a lifetime after
running green-kneed through their childhood,
they will not feel its spring (singing in their blood very loudly)
as if it was natural for good springs to happen.
still the ducks remain, wise of eye,
their flight a rare thing in the summer,
their coming easy to love in the winter,
in every life’s winter
in every life.
Maria Duran (she/her) is a researcher and PhD candidate in Art History from IHA-NOVA FCSH in Lisbon, Portugal. Her literary work has been published Gilbert & Hall Press, Black Moon Magazine, The Ekphrastic Magazine, tiny wren lit, Iceblink Lit, among others. Her visual essay has been the cover of Sophon Lit Magazine. She was a finalist of the 2024 Lisbon Poetry Festival, and has been nominated for the 2025 Best of the Net award. Her poetry debut wasl published with Urutau Press. (@m.mar.duran) • Instagram.
THE CITY KEY 