This poem is taken from PN Review 284, Volume 51 Number 6, July - August 2025.

Set 10: Mondon de Ekstera Spaco
Translated by John Gallas

John Gallas
1
While walking
          Edith Sӧdergran (1892–1923)/Sweden

While walking
I passed about the solar systems
until I found the first thread of my red dress.
I know myself well enough by now.
My heart hangs somewhere in space,
streaming sparks, thuddering in the air,
open to another worldless heart.


2
Wang Tu (Tao Chengdao) His Rocket
          Anonymous (poss. fourteenth century)/China

Wang Tu, Imperishable Fan
of all the Technological Advances known to man –
viz. Fireworks, Gunpowder, Rockets, Lift, Thrust and the Stars –
built a bamboo chair (+ kite) in which to journey to Mars.
On liftoff day, clad in a gold-and-silk-thread páo,
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