Translated from the Amharic by Cheryl Moskowitz.*Saint Teklehaimanot is an Ethiopian saint who lost one of his legs because of how long he spent praying while standing. Legend has it that God finally granted him wings.

The sky is the limit. Bewketu Seyoum, Ethiopia

I shall … build a house with no roof,borrow the ladder from Jacob’s dream,give Tekle* my legs in exchange for his wings becauseI need to know if the sky is the limit.

Wingatui. Bill Manhire, New Zealand

Sit in the car with the headlights off.Look out there nowwhere the yellow moon floats silks across the birdcage.You might have touched that sky you lost.You might have split that azure violin in two.

Translated from the Thai by the author.

Look up to the Sky. Chiranan Pitpreecha, Thailand

The poet writes a rainbow of wordsTo light up the gloomy skyEach place has its direful days, I knowBut it is better to look up, not downBeyond the dark cloud — rainbow

Translated from the Greek by John O’Kane. From The book of soil, Melani editions Athens 2011.

An Excerpt from ‘Imprints’. Katerina Iliopoulou, Greece

I made the hammers my brothersThey hewed within me a SphinxI learned that I must breakNot without resistance of courseIn order to sound

Translated from the Spanish by Tanya Huntington Hyde. An Excerpt from Imperio/Empire (México, 2010).

Views of a Landscape. Rocío Cerón, Mexico

10:01am

Darkness of day. Darkness that numbs /stuns/ the ear. There are no figures or shapes, there is land, stone, lead. Darkness of voices and rumours. And a man in flight will cling to any thing. On the threshold – a mother a father the whole family – tell /babble/ the secret of bodies in earth.

Clear is the night when the flight arrives.

Translated from the Turmen by Hamid Ismailov.From the book The Pain of Eternal Uncertainties.

The wind wanders in the moonlight! Ak Welsapar, Turkmenistan

From the moment of creation, the world is awesome.The world is wise, but furious and dangerous.Before and after us, my friend,It was and will be in the moonlight,

As the wind ...

Translated from the Portuguese by the author.

From Summer Sonettino. Paulo Henriques Britto, Brazil

Seduced and betrayed by words.The world is a hopeless mess.My heart is bruised and hurt.My soul can’t bear such treason.My body couldn’t care less.

Tu = stand + Valu = eight (+1). Selina Tusitala Marsh, Tuvalu

Tuvalu, ten thousand in this countryEight atolls standing in divine poetryFrom Samoa, Telematua voyaged freely birthing bottlenose dolphin mythology Arcing timeless blue skies in rising seas

9. Agnès Agboton, Benin

From my balconyI am listening,tonight,to the tree’s laughter.

That moment …

Translated from the Spanish by Maya García de Vinuesa.From Voz de las dos orillas [My Voice from Both Shores], (Málaga: Ed. Maremoto, 2009)

We. Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvia

We’ll see the winter through in warmth and lightcollecting sharp and fragile objects here at home.No unexpected turns, no sudden thrusts —we slip into each other’s darkto wake amidst sharp shards of rays.

Translated from the Latvian by Ieva Lešinska.

Sunday 1st JulyACE Stories. Hotel Pelirocco, Brighton

Tuesday 3rd JulyAfrica Utopia: Word Sound Power, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London

Wednesday 4th July Wasafiri & the Open University, Open University, Cambridge

Thursday 5th JulyStratford Poetry Festival Shakespeare Centre, Stratford upon Avon

Poetry Parnassus at Much Wenlock Poetry Festival

Clipper Homecoming Festival, Derry (Verbal Arts Centre Derry)

Friday 6th JulyClipper Homecoming Festival, Derry (Verbal Arts Centre Derry)

Park Street PoetryBoston Tea Party Café, Bristol (The Poetry Can)

Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh

Saturday 7th July Ledbury Poetry Festival

Sunday 8th JulyPoetry Parnassus in Hebden Bridge. The Little Theatre, Hebden Bridge

Monday 9th JulyLiverpool Arabic Arts Festival

Tuesday 10th JulyContacting the World Contact Theatre, Manchester

Wednesday 11th July Ways With Words Festival Dartington Hall, Dartington

Thursday 12th JulyAssembly Rooms, Ludlow

Saturday 14th July Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival

Bloodaxe Books is publishing The World Record: international voices from Southbank Centre's Poetry Parnassus edited by Neil Astley and Anna Selby

Between 25th-29th June English PEN and Poetry Parnassus will be running a series of workshops at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, Slough. For more information visit the SBC website: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/poetry-parnassus/tour. For more information on Speaking Volumes visit facebook.com/SpeakingVolumesLiveLiteratureProductions.com or follow @Speak_Volumes

Poetry Parnassus in librariesIn partnership with The Reading Agency

Wednesday 4th JulyWorthing Library, with West Sussex County Council

Birmingham Central Library Theatre, with Birmingham City Council

Thursday 5th July Kendal Library, with Cumbria County Council

Friday 6th July Menuhin Theatre, with Portsmouth City Council

Thursday 12th JulyNottingham Central Library, with Nottingham City Council

Wirksworth Eco Centre, with Derbyshire County Council Cultural & Community Services