*<\/p>\n
A bottle of water. A chunk of bread. Enough
\nfor a trip that only lasts a day shift
\nover the ocean. Obeying the dream
\nof making England unseen, hidden
\nin the wheel well of a Boeing. Ascension.<\/p>\n
A jolt and judder, engines
\nstart, a roar as fierce as every
\nurge, beyond starvation,
\nthe terror, everything you thought
\nout in those blue hours.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Above your head, a level higher, people
\nlisten to music, watch movies,
\napp with the folks at home the way
\nyou pictured them, Sunday strolling
\nover London Bridge, saying, Almost there.<\/p>\n
The shudders. The fear. The bone-breaking
\nturbulence. Blows. Your body
\ngasping for breath, cold clasping
\nyour heart the higher you go into
\nthe heavens, the frozen words.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Out of the sky over Mortlake a life
\ncame plunging down, smashing into
\nan English garden to a scream
\nfrom a sunbathing girl. The pigeons
\nfluttered up. How of a dream<\/p>\n
in summer\u2019s summit nothing might be left
\nbut a hole in the gravel. You, Icarus\u2019s brother,
\na man without a name, without a country,
\nbut in all your anonymity, world famous
\nstill for just a second. God\u2019s cruel scam.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Translation: David Colmer<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\n(1 ) \u2018Mortlake\u2019, written in response to an article in the NRC about a stowaway falling from the wheel well of a passenger jet flying from Kenya to London. <\/em>
\nhttps:\/\/www.nrc.nl\/nieuws\/2019\/07\/01\/lichaam-verstekeling-vliegtuig-eindigt-in-londense-tuin-a3965762<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n