Lejla Demiri adds it up…
Writing by Lejla Demiri
Art by Irina Tall
Count to it
I’m counting on numbers and permission.
My time is conditional and my happiness controlled.
Freedom is sacrifice and a political
Sunday afternoon luxury.
Freedom is waiting for approval before settling on the calendar. So that everyone can know we are free. We are going to be free away from our assigned seats on those exact days. Those days no other ones.
It’s like watching the painkillers keeping my parents body intact as they go back to work for my freedom. Bones aching. How can my mind be free ?
I am chasing joys.
How many joyful seconds can I set up for myself this year,
month,
day…
?
Can I afford it ?
About The Author
Lejla is a thinker and creative. Her main Medium is writing. Writing what she can’t say, drawing what she can’t write and dreaming that she can’t draw. Her main themes in her practice focus towards understanding her mind. As a Maladaptive dreamer she’s trying to share her vision with the world.
About the Artist
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: unicorns, 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”.
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