I dance across the blue
curtain of the sky, my silk
gleaming white in the sun’s
embrace, clouds pirouetting
around us.
Here on the ground, I point
my arrow toward the sun
but never let it fly. Its shadow
counts the hours drifting
above me.
I carry a handful of wands
but do not care what signals
they catch. The people below
watch me pass—I think I hear
their applause.
I know what I am asked to do
and what my arrow pretends
to hunt. You must confess
what you have taken, what
use will be made of it.
Now there is water beneath me.
Something roars as it approaches.
It is not dancing.
I tell the tale of hours though
no one comes near to listen.
It is enough to speak.
Susanna Lang divides her time between Chicago and Uzès, France. Her most recent chapbook, Like This, was released in 2023 (Unsolicited Books), along with her translations of poems by Souad Labbize, My Soul Has No Corners (Diálogos Books). Her e-chapbook, Among Other Stones: Conversations with Yves Bonnefoy, (Mudlark: An Electronic Journal of Poetry & Poetics) and her translation of Baalbek by Nohad Salameh (Atelier du Grand Tétras) were both published in 2021. Her third full-length collection of poems, Travel Notes from the River Styx, was published in 2017 by Terrapin Books. Her poems, translations, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in such publications as the Common, december magazine, Asymptote, Tupelo Quarterly, “American Life in Poetry,” Rhino Reviews, Mayday, and the Slowdown. Her translations of poetry by Yves Bonnefoy include Words in Stone and The Origin of Language, and she is now working with Souad Labbize and Hélène Dorion on new translations. More information available at www.susannalang.com.
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