Translated by Khashayar Mohammadi
the oceandweller stands by the white poplar everyone here has once lost something to time each solved mystery leads us to a mystery darker than the last sometimes I speak to spirits they come here longing Jabir Ibn Hayyan says that matter contains various qualities but the only two distinct qualities are Sulfur and Mercury. he called these two “poetic matter”. he believed that matter could not be organized by simple observation, but that it needed complex equipment with the help of which observation could become more precise. perhaps this was the very reason why he had many opposers, since his opposition still insisted on the primacy of the elements such as Earth, Fire, Water and Air. he spent his entire life relentlessly researching. he called all matter which hovered between natural states “Hasteful” matter. they do not settle in a single form but are constantly changing. one important application of such “Hasteful” matter was to build intergalactic chariots. such matter could allow to escape terminal velocity and reach Open horizons. we see the OceanCruiser from the outside. it is moving through stardust: These are the endless corridors of memory. with every birth a new star is born into this world and every death takes a star to eternity. night begins. crickets chirping to the moon. in a room with a Television buzzing we hear this poem from the Television: I’ve been staring at the sky for a while till this moment I haven’t seen a single bird nocturnal skies have no birds who knows maybe one night I’ll take flight from my window to become the first nocturnal bird to be honest when you’re depressed you’re not afraid of owls or bats or even heights
Saeed Tavanaee Marvi is a poet and translator born in the city of Mashhad in 1983. His books include “The Woman With Chlorophylic eyes”, “Verses of Death: An Anthology of American Poetry” and a translation of Richard Brautigan’s “Tokyo Montana Express”.
Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi (He/They) is a queer, Iranian born, Toronto-based Poet, Writer and Translator. They are the winner of the Vallum Poetry Prize 2021 and author of four poetry Chapbooks. Their debut poetry collection “Me, You, Then Snow” is out with Gordon Hill Press.