Three Poems

Poetry by Dario Cvencek

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A FRUIT ON THE BRANCH

‍ ‍

the apple is green

‍and it smells

‍like fall

‍ ‍

if you pick it now

‍it will not be

‍sweet

‍ ‍

let it ripen well

‍when it’s

‍ready to

‍ ‍

silently

‍it will

‍fall into

‍your palm

UNDER THE PLUM TREES

under the blossoming treetops I lie

and watch the spring put on a gown of twilight

I wait for the dream, so I can resign

myself into the warmth and air of this night

light of the stars fades, as if teasing

behind the tangle of leaves and plums

and I feel that the sky is breathing

in the rhythm of my sleepy lungs

FIREWORKS

the sky, it sparkles just on a whim

in a burst of vibrant stars that dim

and the colors, they flicker with noise

for a bit, and then they lose their voice

the light, it lazily falls in an arc

among the treetops of some sleeping park

and the sky is dark again, as usual

and it’s all just a foolish illusion

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Editor’s Note: The poems above are from Dario Cvencek’s most recently published poetry collection Mirror Made of Words.

BIO: Dario Cvencek is an immigrant poet from the Balkans. He started writing poetry in high school, inspired by his growing up during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, and his subsequent experiences as a refugee of war and an immigrant in Germany and the United States. In his poems, he explores the themes of war, trauma, healing, identity, gun violence, immigration, nature, and love. His work has appeared in Rising Phoenix Review, Ambrosia Zine, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, Ancient Tech News, Beyond Words Magazine, ANARKISS Magazine, The Split Mind, and others. “PTSD Martini” (Carbonation Press, 2025) is his first full-length collection of poetry. He lives and works in Seattle, WA.