I like words that are hard to translate into English. This poem is my attempt to translate “Gökotta” although it is the wrong country, the wrong time of year, the wrong time of day and even the wrong birds. But the intent is there and the feeling evoked by the birds no matter what time you happen to get up.

In 2019, after a very long hiatus, Kerstin Schulz began writing again then published her first poem in 2020. Her work can be found in Fireweed, eris & eros, Montana Mouthful, The Bookends Review and Cathexis Northwest Press, among other publications. Kerstin lives in Portland, Oregon.