Misery’s Garnet

~ And Other Poems

            Nadia de Vries

And I paint him taupe
Because he’s not my favorite

How does it feel, being plain?

I paint him taupe. Make him say hi
To orange, blue and green

I want to see taupe cry

I know that taupe knows
That he’s nothing
Without grey and brown

Nadia de Vries is a poet from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her books include Know Thy Audience (2023), I Failed to Swoon (2021) and Dark Hour (2018). Besides writing poetry in English, she also writes prose in Dutch. The English translation of her debut novel, Thistle (translator: Sarah Timmer Harvey), is forthcoming with The New Menard Press.