Signe Gjessing
'You aren’t dreaming'
You aren’t dreaming, the oxygen I breathe kneels, discreet,
oxygen turns the wrong way
makes us mute
like the sky looking up into the clouds
co-conspiring with mother-of-pearl, the anniversaries
arranged like fish scales that look like
mist on time,
because they arc away from us in the same way
and I begin peeling off like a wall,
although the wall died off many days ago
layer-upon-layer reason flakes
like close-fitting, deep turf
a vegetable garden that wakes up in the process of loading every
seed into nothingness
because in the dream it was a wheelbarrow, is too exhausted
to ask the stars if they want to be part of a metaphor —
I do, if no one else wants to – my feigned casualness bubbles over and I am already a blister on the world’s tongue
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: First publication on poetryinternational.com, , 2023
'Je droomt er niet van'
Je droomt er niet van, de zuurstof die ik inadem, knielt, discreet,
zuurstof is verkeerdom
het maakt ons stom
als een hemel die naar de sterren ligt te kijken
medesamenzweerder met parelmoer moeten ze zijn, de bijzondere dagen,
die als visschubben vastzitten en lijken op
nevel tegen de tijd,
want ze buigen op dezelfde manier van ons weg
en ik begin te schilferen als een muur
hoewel de muur al dagen is uitgestorven
laag op laag verstand fladdert
als dicht op elkaar zittende, diepe spadesteken
een moestuin die wakker wordt bezig om alle
zaden in het niets te lozen
omdat jij in haar droom een kruiwagen was, te uitgeput
om de sterren te vragen of ze niet mee willen doen in een metafoor-
ik wil graag als er geen anderen zijn - mijn gefingeerde terloopsheid borrelt over en ik ben al een blaasje op alle talen van de wereld
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: 2023, Voor het eerst gepubliceerd op PoetryInternational.com,
'Du drømmer ikke om det'
Du drømmer ikke om det, ilten jeg indånder knæler, diskret,
ilt vender forkert
det gør os stumme
som en himmel, der ligger og kigger op i skyerne
medsammensvoren med perlemor må de være, mærkedagene,
der sidder som fiskeskel og ligner
dis til tiden,
for de buer på samme måde væk fra os
og jeg giver mig til at skalle som en mur,
selvom muren uddøde for mange dage siden
lag-på-lag-fornuft flagrer
som tætsiddende, dybe spadestik
en køkkenhave, der vågner i færd med at læsse alle
frøene ud i intet
fordi den i drømmen var en trillebør, er for udmattet
til at spørge stjernerne, om ikke de vil være med i en metafor -
jeg vil gerne, hvis der ikke er andre – min fingerede henkastethed bobler over og jeg er allerede en
blæne på alverdens tungemål
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: Gyldendal,
'You aren’t dreaming'
You aren’t dreaming, the oxygen I breathe kneels, discreet,
oxygen turns the wrong way
makes us mute
like the sky looking up into the clouds
co-conspiring with mother-of-pearl, the anniversaries
arranged like fish scales that look like
mist on time,
because they arc away from us in the same way
and I begin peeling off like a wall,
although the wall died off many days ago
layer-upon-layer reason flakes
like close-fitting, deep turf
a vegetable garden that wakes up in the process of loading every
seed into nothingness
because in the dream it was a wheelbarrow, is too exhausted
to ask the stars if they want to be part of a metaphor —
I do, if no one else wants to – my feigned casualness bubbles over and I am already a blister on the world’s tongue
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: 2023, First publication on poetryinternational.com,
'You aren’t dreaming'
You aren’t dreaming, the oxygen I breathe kneels, discreet,
oxygen turns the wrong way
makes us mute
like the sky looking up into the clouds
co-conspiring with mother-of-pearl, the anniversaries
arranged like fish scales that look like
mist on time,
because they arc away from us in the same way
and I begin peeling off like a wall,
although the wall died off many days ago
layer-upon-layer reason flakes
like close-fitting, deep turf
a vegetable garden that wakes up in the process of loading every
seed into nothingness
because in the dream it was a wheelbarrow, is too exhausted
to ask the stars if they want to be part of a metaphor —
I do, if no one else wants to – my feigned casualness bubbles over and I am already a blister on the world’s tongue
From: Ud i det u-løse
Publisher: 2023, First publication on poetryinternational.com,