High-Altitude Flight Via Olympus

'Up in the sky we are inescapably tied to the earth.'

High-Altitude Flight Via Olympus

- by Hellmut Seiler

Immersed in
shredded ray bundles
of an evening in May

- the Olympus, bald,
godless. At least when
viewed from above.

The seat of the immortals below. Above
the heads Mickey Mouse, flickering.
The sea glistens from far away, the surf

is in one's ear. "Would anybody care to
make a purchase?" Up in the sky we are
inescapably tied to the earth.

Web of clouds, words scurry
along, the only fixed point
between heaven & earth.

Deeds follow
close behind
in thought.

* * *

- English translation from the German of Hellmut Seiler by Johannes Beilharz