About the Sea Poem by Anja Kampmann

The horizon is the concern here the
distance applying color the bright crackling
of surfaces of light and the spreading
of the light as it surges the sea
within its broad chest the putrid sludge
of the fishmeal factories the sea of romantic
fires on the gravel beaches travelers
now losing themselves forever
in a distant view the sea in the harbors, the docks
the container areas licking the sea
beneath cranes all heaving the
homesickness nightwards the sea of moray eels
lurking back behind a rock
the sea of the deep with a hidden image
for the dreams of the sea
that vanished in the sea bottomless
the trenches above it all a mosaic of flakes
streaming tough thick field of dirt the sea
that is so well concealed gasping for air within
its broad chest and snatching at
itself.

Translated by Wieland Hoban