Poesia kaiera
12etako albistegia
mahai-lanpara
Guztiok dakizuenez, ilargi bete gaua da gaur mundu erdian. Baina hemen ilargia zeruan eskegita dagoela dirudi, estatiko. Oso argi gutxi ematen du; hilda egon liteke. Ikusgarritasuna urria da. Edonola ere, saiatuko gara paisaiaren itxura eta uneko egoera nolabait azaltzen.
idazmakina
Erdialdeko lautadatik kolpean igotzen den malda itzal astun baten pean dago, baina hegoaldeko glazisaren terraza-sorta landuak dir-dir apur bat egiten du argi apalean, arrain-ezkaten antzera. Nolako lana adierazten duten forma arraroko terrazatxo horiek! Eta, hala ere, haien esku dago printzerri ņimiņo honen ongizatea.
eskuizkribu-pila
Luizi txiki bat egon da ipar-mendebaldean duela ordubete inguru. Agerian geratu den lurrak kalitate eskasekoa dirudi: ia zuria, karetsua, eta eskistoz osatua. Hildakorik egon ez delakoan gaude.
mekanografiatutako orria
Ia zuzen iparralderantz, gure airetiko miaketak laukizuzen formako “zelai” handi baten aurkikuntzaren berri eman du. Orain arte ezezaguna zitzaigun, eta agerikoa du gizakiak egina dela. Tanto belzduna da. Lurreratze-pista? Hilerria?
gutun-azalak
Herrialde txiki, atzerakoi honetan, egungo munduan geratzen diren atzerakoienetakoan, komunikabideak garatu gabe daude eta ia ez dago “industrializaziorik” ezta haren ondoriorik ere. Harrigarriki, ordea, horma-irudiek tamaina benetan erraldoia daukate.
tinta-botila
Forma bitxiko egitura beltz eta misteriotsu baten berri ere izan dugu, ekialderantz jakinarazi gabeko distantziara. Haren azal distiratsuak geratzen den ilargi-argi apurra harrapatzen duelako baino ez gara haren presentziaz ohartu. Herrialdeko baliabide naturalak ez ditugunez xehe-xehe ezagutzen, baliteke hau “arma sekretu” indartsu eta beldurgarria, edo haren gordailua, izatea. Bestalde, dakigunez, edo gure antropologo eta soziologoek jende honen inguruan irakatsi digutenez, baliteke numena baino ez izatea, edo duela gutxi eraikitako aldarea haien jainkoetako batentzat, zeina, egun bizi duten superstizio- eta etsipen-egoera historikoan, botere magikoz jantzia ikusten baitute, eta agian baita “salbatzaile” gisa ere; parez pare dituzten oztopo larrien aurrean erreskatatuak izateko azken esperantza.
idazmakina-ezabagailua
Azkenean! Biztanle iheskorretako bat begi-bistan! Badirudi monoziklodun mezularia dela —edo, hobeto esanda, zela—, eta argiztapen iruzurtiaren ondorioz maldan behera erortzean hil zela. Bizirik zegoela, txikia izango zen, baina harro eta tente azalduko zen ezbairik gabe, indigenek ohiko duten zurda beltzarekin.
hautsontzia
Gure goitiko talaiatik, garbi ikus dezakegu, lurpeko babesleku batean edo, agian, jaurtigai batek utzitako kraterraren barnean, soldadu-“tontor” bat. Elkarren gainean pilatuta dautza, “negu-garaiko borrokara” bideratutako kamuflajeko “gudu-uniformea” soinean. Izugarriro bihurrituta daude, denak ere hilda. Gutxienez zortzi gorpu bereiz ditzakegu. Uniforme hauek herrialdeko mendi-tontor elurtu bakarreko gerrilla-gerretan erabiltzeko diseinatu ziren. Soldadu gixajook uniforme hau hemen, lautadan, erabili izanak are argiago frogatzen du, beharrezkoa balitz ere, jende ulergaitz honen, gure arerioen, umekeria eta praktikotasun-falta etsigarria edo, bestela, haien liderren ustelkeria tamalgarria.
12 O’Clock News
gooseneck lamp
As you all know, tonight is the night of the full moon, half the world over. But here the moon seems to hang motionless in the sky. It gives very little light; it could be dead. Visibility is poor. Nevertheless, we shall try to give you some idea of the lay of the land and the present situation.
typewriter
The escarpment that rises abruptly from the central plain is in heavy shadow, but the elaborate terracing of its southern glacis gleams faintly in the dim light, like fish scales. What endless labor those small, peculiarly shaped terraces represent! And yet, on them the welfare of this tiny principality depends.
pile of mss.
A slight landslide occurred in the northwest about an hour ago. The exposed soil appears to be of poor quality: almost white, calcareous, and shaly. There are believed to have been no casualties.
typed sheet
Almost due north, our aerial reconnaissance reports the discovery of a large rectangular ‘field’, hitherto unknown to us, obviously man-made. It is dark- speckled. An airstrip? A cemetery?
envelopes
In this small, backward country, one of the most backward left in the world today, communications are crude and “industrialization” and its products almost nonexistent. Strange to say, however, sign- boards are on a truly gigantic scale.
ink-bottle
We have also received reports of a mysterious, oddly shaped, black structure, at an undisclosed distance to the east. Its presence was revealed only because its highly polished surface catches such feeble moonlight as prevails. The natural resources of the country being far from completely known to us, there is the possibility that this may be, or may contain, some powerful and terrifying “secret weapon”. On the other hand, given what we do know, or have learned from our anthropologists and sociologists about this people, it may well be nothing more than a numen, or a great altar recently erected to one of their gods, to which, in their present historical state of superstition and helplessness, they attribute magical power, and may even regard as a “savior,” one last hope of rescue from their grave difficulties.
typewriter eraser
At last! One of the elusive natives has been spotted! He appears to be—rather, to have been—a unicyclist-courier, who may have met his end by falling from the height of the escarpment because of the deceptive illumination. Alive, he would have been small, but undoubtedly proud and erect, with the thick, bristling black hair typical of the indigenes.
ashtray
From our superior vantage point, we can clearly see into a sort of dugout, possibly a shell crater, a “nest” of soldiers. They lie heaped together, wearing the camouflage “battle dress” intended for “winter warfare”. They are in hideously contorted position, all dead. We can make out at least eight bodies. These uniforms were designed to be used in guerilla warfare on the country’s one snow-covered mountain peak. The fact that these poor soldiers are wearing them here, on the plain, gives further proof, if proof were necessary, either of the childishness and hopeless impracticality of this inscrutable people, our opponents, or of the sad corruption of their leaders.