Song to the moon

Hey moon, it’s just you and me tonight

Everyone else is asleep

– Molly Nillson, “Hey Moon!”

– smile at us moon

– smile at us like you used to!

– Hryhorij Czubaj, “To speak, to be silent again”

During the day one lives and works, and at night one dreams.

Moon, when I look at you, I dream

Of good wages and a happy life,

One that makes sense and never gets derailed.

Moon, sometimes I think of you during the day as well,

And sometimes during the day I sleep and you are my sun.

*

At night I think about my teeth, about my testosterone

Results, about the skin condition on my

Back, about the dandruff on my head, about my ach-

Ing knee. I feel sad then.

I feel lonely and think about life. The moon

Shines, sometimes I cry a bit, but usually

I don’t and go to bed, so during the day

I can do my own chores and not think too much

About the things I think about at night. I hope

That each new day will lead

To more and more peaceful nights, o moon.

*

The moon is round and could be a cheese,

Sometimes it’s so bright it looks like

Camembert. I’d like to pull it down to earth

So I could find that underneath the cheesy shell

There is a luminous core that acts

Like Amaltea’s Horn. I could find in it

An infinite amount of healthy food.

Then I would share my wealth

With all the people of the earth.

The day the moon descends on earth

Will be the day we end exploitation. We will

Eat well and healthy, we will work only

The necessary amount. No one will benefit

From work that is not theirs anymore and never

Again will we see before our eyes

the Great Baloney. The moon shall

Devour it, the great cheese will eat the Trifle and establish

Only healthy investments. I like cheese.

*

I would like to say hello to you, o moon.

I feel very sad when I look at you,

Because then I think of everything but

you. I think about my

[…] whom I loved very, very much,

And about my material situation. I would like

To love […] in a world where I could

Buy […] beautiful dresses, perfumes,

Jewellery, delicious food and frequent holidays

In pleasant places. You cannot talk

To the moon, since it is

The earth’s natural satellite.

*

I gleam about moon it is a dream about it the moon so nice so pretty

It wants to leave but then I hug it tenderly and the moon it’s bigger than me

My jars

My room – it is not a house, because we never had one – suited me, by all means. The temperature of the room pleased me, and the duskiness of the room comforted my eyes. I did not want any other room cooler or warmer than my own, nor a room darker or more comfortable. I thanked my room all the time because it seemed to maintain itself to please me, and I was glad that I might have been born to the world for that particular room. But I did not consider happiness or unhappiness. I never needed to wonder whether I was happy or unhappy.

– Yi Sang, The Wings (trans. Ahn Jung-hyo & James B. Lee)

And today I will receive the glass jars from my mother,

Today I only have 12 złoty to live on,

I’ll get my jars by courier.

I don’t like money,

That’s why I spend it,

And of the 1200 złoty I only have 12 złoty left for the rest of the week.

The courier’s life support is paid for by their owner,

Because they’re not a cheap cyborg, but not an expensive one either,

And my parents got me for free.

*

The courier cannot understand

Why they’re maintaining my vitals even though they got me for free,

And hates my jars because of that.

Human couriers happen to understand,

That’s why they love my jars,

That’s why they keep them.

The Novel of a State

This Wit wot witerly,

As the world techeth,

What other byhoveth

That hath meny children.

And hath no catel bote hus crafte

To clothy hem and to fede,

And fele to fonge therto,

And fewe pans taketh.

Ther is payn and peny ale,

As for a pytaunce y-take;

Cold flesch and cold fyssh,

For veneson y-bake.

– William Langland, The Vision and Creed of Piers Plowman

The hand of God

Makes the people’s

Lives bright

In the burdensome and dark

Matter of existence,

Which was left

Behind by Moloch.

After the country

Was taken over by

The messenger of God himself

A compulsory service

Of being NEET

Was established.

Many succumbed

To suicide

In the course of it,

Because hardly anyone

Could withstand

Such inertia

In a world where

Everyone from childhood

Is forced into

An artificial dynamic

Which serves

Only the Moloch.

In the service of being NEET

Many have fallen

But some brave heroes

Have also emerged.

They have withstood

The economic pressures

They have relieved their parents

In household chores,

Which gave them a chance

To rest after work

Moloch did

Not like it,

He decided to kill

The reigning

Messenger of God.

*

Every NEET

After a year’s service

In economic inertia

Was given the opportunity

To choose a life path.

Some knew what

They needed, but

Not everyone knew,

Even though

During their year of service

All went through

Compulsory

Psychotherapy,

Even with such

Assistance

Not everyone knew

What to do in life.

Those were sent

To the priory of musing

Where the messenger of God

Gave each a house

And the possibility of

Artistic development, if

They needed it,

In exchange for a little

Help and some chores.

Moloch kept trying

To undermine this system.

He told everyone that

The country had no money,

To which the messenger of God

Replied with laughter

That the hand of God himself

Does not need money

To make life.

Translated by Paweł Kaczmarski