36. (empire / february 13 2015)
translated from the Norwegian by Gabriel Gudding
honored assembly thanks for letting us stay here
this beautiful country this proud people
brothers sisters friends i have heard you are empire
but you don’t look like empire
in the grime between gladiators that’s empire
in the syntax oh yeah i can see it empire drained wetlands
hydroelectric rivers broad sidewalks railways yes
encyclopedias in gold leaf pools of umber beer
streets of creamy gravies piles of onceterrified meat all this empire
prairies burning under rising blue plumes cities cinched like strands
of teeth around the necks of mountains empire
what we do to each other in hotels for money empire
at night over the telephone by appointment
the windows across the river their lights blinking on off on
the signals indicating the train is on its way after all
not all of us are dead after all we are happy to see you
though we don’t dare talk to you after all
with paprika powder i write the waste land in the language of empire
with a sooty twig i write the odyssey with the alphabet of empire
with blueberry juice i write my country anew in the lexicon of empire
my country becomes a ditch a tallow candle smears on your plate
when you hear that my country is disappearing you don’t get terrified
when i have translated this so you can understand that my country
is disappearing you don’t get terrified no
instead you grow furious because i am terrified
now that’s empire
From Friends with Everyone (Action Books, 2024) by Gunnar Wærness, translated by Gabriel Gudding. Copyright © 2024 by Gabriel Gudding. Reprinted by permission of the publisher and author.