You say: acquiescence is a way out.
I say: acquiescence is an escape.
That’s how we converse, acquiescent
and acquiescently gnaw at
the apples of our lives.
Acquiescently suck
even the seeds
and rescue them
in pots.
With time the fights abate,
it’s predictable.
Acquiescent,
we sweeten our tea
with crystals of love.

Elka Vasileva was born in Vratsa, in Northwestern Bulgaria. She holds a degree in philology from St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, and has worked as a newspaper and radio journalist and as a community organizer and liaison for public literary events. Elka is the author of five poetry books, most recently Anatomy of Memory, published in 2012. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications. She has received various literary awards, including the Hristo Fotev Annual Poetry Award in 2005. She currently lives and writes in Bourgas.