Poem

Signe Gjessing

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Original language

'you extend a hand'

you extend a hand
tentatively,
like water-resistant light

I wonder, quietly,
if it will hold us both
if, for example, we had to
escape by sea

© Translation: 2023, Denise Newman
Publisher: First publication on poetryinternational.com, , 2023

'je reikt me de hand'

je reikt me de hand
tastend
als waterafstotende kaarsen

ik voel, stil,
of het ons beiden kan houden
als het bv nodig zou zijn
om over de zee te vluchten

© Vertaling: 2023, Annelies van Hees
Publisher: 2023, Voor het eerst gepubliceerd op PoetryInternational.com,

'du rækker mig hånden'

du rækker mig hånden
prøvende,
som vandafvisende lys

jeg mærker, stille,
om det kan holde til os begge
hvis det fx blev nødvendigt at
flygte på havet

© 2014, Signe Gjessing
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: Gyldendal,

Signe Gjessing

Signe Gjessing

(Denmark, 1992)

‘As for the world: it is done with forgetting’

This 30-year-old poet and philosopher from Denmark has already published four collections, which have not gone unnoticed in Denmark; at home, she is regularly compared to Inger Christensen. For her work she received, among other awards, the prestigious Bodil & Jørgen Munch Christensen Prize for emerging writers. Her best-known collection is he...

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Poems

Poems of Signe Gjessing

'A nebula agrees'

'The universe does a cartwheel in my heart'

'The universe needs some hearts to step up'

'The star-space shouldn’t mess with my heartbeat'

'Our shadows geek out'

'The world looks out'

'Lungs doubt the air’s existence.'

PARAPHRASE OF SECTION VI OF LE BATEAU IVRE

'The spring transports'

'It’s becoming tremendously urgent with that light'

Close

'you extend a hand'

you extend a hand
tentatively,
like water-resistant light

I wonder, quietly,
if it will hold us both
if, for example, we had to
escape by sea

© 2023, Denise Newman
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: 2023, First publication on poetryinternational.com,

'you extend a hand'

you extend a hand
tentatively,
like water-resistant light

I wonder, quietly,
if it will hold us both
if, for example, we had to
escape by sea

© 2023, Denise Newman
Publisher: 2023, First publication on poetryinternational.com,

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