"Bladder," a Poem in German by Dana Ranga, Translated by Christina Hennemann

Bladder

Peritoneum, pericardium, pleura,
equipment of the medieval bard
wandering fools
in the mediastinum,
Robin Hoods and Don Quixotes
(slaves destined for lowly services)
and not even the essentials
in the luggage.
Mediastinum, flexible and elastic
beautiful melody with foul verse.
Who separates poetry from attitude?
The costal pleura becomes inflamed.
Planetary knights of creation
stubborn and non-conformist
they breathe and glide almost smoothly
in an incidental universe
populated by beings that think
(intermittent).
We’re wearing the crown!
We call the shots!
The key!
The last shot!
Tap him
determine the size of his heart.
Patience, complementary space
who waits until one grows?
Mammary gland of the new-born
another thing we lose
Innocence-gland:
it warms and nourishes
until we stop laughing
from sheer instant-love and opinion
that would do us good.

————-
Blase

Bauchfell, Herzbeutel, Brustfell,
Ausstattung des mittelalterlichen Barden
umherziehende Narren
im Mittelfell
Robin Hoods und Don Quichotes
(zu niedern Diensten bestimmte Sklaven)
und nicht einmal das Nötigste
im Gepäck.
Mediastinum, beweglich und elastisch
schone Melodie mit faulem Vers.
Wer trennt Dichtung von Gesinnung?
Das Rippenfell entzündet sich.
Planetenritter der Schöpfung
stur und unangepasst
sie atmen und gleiten beinahe reibungslos
in einem nebensachlichen Universum
bevölkert von Wesen, die denken
(intermittent).
Wir tragen die Krone!
Wir haben das Sagen!
Den Schlüssel!
Den letzten Schuss!
Beklopfe ihn
bestimme die Größe seines Herzens.
Geduld, Komplementärraum
wer wartet, bis man wächst?
Brustdrüse der Neugeborenen
noch so etwas, das wir verlieren.
Unschuldsdrüse:
sie wärmt und nährt
bis uns das Lachen vergeht
vor lauter Instant-Liebe und Meinung
das täte uns wohl.

Dana Ranga, born in Bucharest in 1964, moved to Germany in 1987. Her mother came from the former GDR and her father from Romania. She studied medicine at the University of Bucharest and semiotics, art history and film studies at the Free University in Berlin. She completed the second degree with a master’s degree. Between 1995 and 2009 she translated poetry from Romanian and English, published her own poetry in international literary journals and made documentary films. So far, she has written two radio plays and created radio features on the subject of poetry and literature.

Christina Hennemann is a writer and literary translator based in Ireland. Her debut poetry pamphlet “Illuminations at Nightfall” was published in 2022. She won the Luain Press Poetry Competition and was shortlisted in the Anthology Poetry Award and the Onyx Fall Contest. Her work appears in The Moth, fifth wheel, Fieldnotes, National Poetry Month Canada, Tír na nÒg and elsewhere.  www.christinahennemann.com