Krisitian Iliev

When I should be in my bed sleeping

As I listen to sirens beeping

The partition feels ever wider

Experts and laypeople disagree

An odious logic surrounds me

At home I feel like an outsider

Friends on both sides have something to say

All of the nurses deserve bouquets

Laughter still hangs around in the air

Despite all of this, I still persist

See hope in the arguments I missed

At least our debates show that we care.

Kristian Iliev is a Bulgarian-American writer, UW-Madison alum, and the founder of rock band The Racing Pulses. In 2013, he won the Racine Poets Laureate Young Writers Contest. His debut poetry collection, Glyphs from the Apparatus, was published in 2018 by Stiks & Monida.