MY MAGICAL SPACE SHIP

Astropoem
by Zigmund Tauberg

Joyous English translation from the Romanian
by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

Design (including:
1. International Space Station photo; 2007 July 28;
2. Aircraft model and Moon - collage)
by Gabriel Ivanescu

Tied on Earth by gravity,
I was full of envy
to the past, present and future cosmonauts
wandering in
spaces and constellations,
and I made my own ship
to travel urgently through
the Cosmos too.
Thus, I visited the Moon,
and I expanded my itinerary
to planets.
I studied them,
and their satellites, and comets,
and I decided to escape out of the solar system.
And I saw Polaris
and its stellar brothers in Ursa Minor.
Then, curious, I visited a dwarf star
and many other stars
(it’s hard to enumerate
all at this rate.)
Pushed by a living wish,
I left our galaxy
and I started to Andromeda,
where a surprise appeared quickly:
another species, on a different planet,
with a high technology.
Furthermore, feeling myself like a chip,
I tried and met
other special worlds
because I know that my ship
can touch unlimited speeds,
much bigger than the speed of light,
in spite
of its time,
which is amazingly
the same with the Earth’s time -
so that I’m free
to dispense from time’s contraction.

Fellows, this is my dear creation,
which I describe in these verses:
it is my thought, a magical ship,
which carries me through universes.

ROMANIAN ORIGINAL VERSION


Cuprins in mintea mea de gelozie
Pe cei ce-au fost, ce sint si ce-or sa fie
Cosmonauti, prin siderale spatii,
Cindva ratacitori prin constelatii,
Iar eu, cu dorul meu de duca sint
Legat, prin gravitatie, de Pamint,
Nu m-am lasat, si-am faurit o nava
Ce sa ma duca, fara de zabava,
Prin Cosmos, sa calatoresc intr-una
Si-am vizitat in felu-acesta Luna,
Si a cuprins al meu itinerar
Planetele Sistemului Solar,
Ce le-am studiat, in voie, rind pe rind,
Ba chiar si satelitii, pina cind
Am hotarit sa evadez afara
Din ast sistem, sa vad Steaua Polara
Si fratii ei stelari din Ursa Mica.
Am vizitat apoi o stea pitica
Si multe alte stele, dar e greu
Sa le insir pe toate, insa eu,
Impins spre spatii de dorinta vie,
Am parasit a noastra galaxie
Si inspre Andromeda am pornit.
Acolo o surpriza am gasit:
O stea cu o planeta populata
De-o specie foarte tehnologizata.
De-acolo far-a zabovi am mers
Si-am parasit al nostru univers
Ca sa cunosc si lumi deosebite,
Pentru ca stiu ca nava mea permite
Sa ia viteza orisicit de mare
Si poate depasi in deplasare
Lumina de oricit de multe ori.
Viteza ei poate lua valori
Imense, insa-i de mirare
Ca timpul scurs pe ea de la plecare
E-acel de pe Pamint, nu-i diferit,
Deci de contractia lui am fost scutit.

Asta-i creatia mea cea mult iubita
Pe care o descriu in aste versuri:
E gindul meu, o nava-nchipuita,
Care ma poarta printre universuri.

(c) 2007 SARM
(Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy)