Martin Kratz

O LAIKA

O Laika,
the mud of language neve r sets.
Every year,
the Presidents of Extinction
double down
on their own last worst.

ALL THE DOGS ARE HERE

All the dogs are here.
Here’s Laika the Space Dog.
Here are the loyal Dogs of Pompeii.

And there are the dog owners,
saying ‘shutupyoustupiddog’.
Even though the dog makes a good point!

Here’s the broken road.
Here the tarmac’s cracked to reveal
old cobblestones beneath.

            the future’s a dead end
time rushes back on itself
   with nowhere else to go

Every stone reads:
Wenn du das hier liest,
dann weine. Or:

When the swallows stop                            
these stones start
                                                flying.

Migrating through
your fucking windows.

We give you our word,
say the Presidents of Extinction.
As if they have a word to give.

Even in their wildest fantasies,
they act too late.

Martin Kratz’s reviews and translations from the German have appeared in various journals and the anthology The Heart of a Stranger: An Anthology of Exile Literature (Pushkin Press, 2019). He is the co-editor of Mount London: Ascents in the Vertical City (Penned in the Margins, 2014). A pamphlet, ‘A Skeleton’s Progress’ (Poetry Salzburg) was published in 2018. He has new work in After Sylvia: Poems and essays in celebration of Sylvia Plath (Nine Arches, 2022). He is Programme Manager at Manchester Poetry Library.