Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Michel Deguy

Memo

What should be
Does not go without saying

What cannot be said . . .  
Should be written

The part leads to the whole
Which yields the part

Knowing what it’s like
Is our knowledge – non-absolute

There must be semblance
To achieve contiguity

The poem is of things coming
Which need to be fetched

                                    *

Comparison maintains the incomparable
The distinction of things between them
Poetry forbids identification
On the sweetness of like harsh
Common? Come-on
It’s all come
Come as if
It were a come-on

Poetry deprives itself to be-come
As a lover devours without devouring
To signify the letter of love
Ut musica ut pictura ut poiesis

Under bodily constraint due to loss
To vicariate sense into sense
Depriving itself of what's missing
The poem entrusts its lack to language
So the blind man may be known as the seer

                                    *

We’ll never get out of it
That’s what I wish for us but
Open an emergency exit
To get out without leaving
            If all has always failed

“Do not believe in jail as a sealed destiny
Believe in a possibility of liberation
Which would have no meaning
If we were not (like) prisoners”


                                    *

A road goes nowhere
No exit at the top

Aide mémoire

Aide mémoire

Ce qui a lieu d’être
Ne va pas sans dire

Ce qu’on ne peut pas dire . . .
Il faut l’écrire

La partie donne sur le tout
Qui donne la partie

Savoir à quoi ça ressemble
C’est notre savoir – non absolu

Il faut de la semblance
Pour faire de la contiguïté

Le poème est des choses prochaines
Qu’il faut aller chercher

                                     *

La comparaison entretient l’incomparable
La distinction des choses entre elles
Poésie interdit l’identification
Pour la douceur du comme rigoureuse
Commun? Comme-un
C’est tout comme
Faire comme si
C’était comme-un

Poésie se prive pour être comme
Comme un amant dévore sans dévorer
Pour signifier la lettre de l’amour
Ut musica ut pictura ut poiesis

Contraint par corps grâce à la perte
A vicarier les sens en sens
Se privant de ce qui lui manque
Le poème en confie le défaut à sa langue
Pour que l’aveugle soit nommé le voyant

                                     *

Nous ne nous en sortirons jamais
C’est ce que je nous souhaite mais
Pratiquer une issue de secours
Pour s’en tirer sans s’en sortir
         Si tout a toujours échoué

“Ne pas croire à la prison comme destin scellé
Croire à une possibilité de libération
Qui n’aurait pas de sens
Si nous n’étions pas (comme) des prisonniers”


                                     *

Chemin qui ne mène nulle part
Sans issue est le sommet
Close

Memo

What should be
Does not go without saying

What cannot be said . . .  
Should be written

The part leads to the whole
Which yields the part

Knowing what it’s like
Is our knowledge – non-absolute

There must be semblance
To achieve contiguity

The poem is of things coming
Which need to be fetched

                                    *

Comparison maintains the incomparable
The distinction of things between them
Poetry forbids identification
On the sweetness of like harsh
Common? Come-on
It’s all come
Come as if
It were a come-on

Poetry deprives itself to be-come
As a lover devours without devouring
To signify the letter of love
Ut musica ut pictura ut poiesis

Under bodily constraint due to loss
To vicariate sense into sense
Depriving itself of what's missing
The poem entrusts its lack to language
So the blind man may be known as the seer

                                    *

We’ll never get out of it
That’s what I wish for us but
Open an emergency exit
To get out without leaving
            If all has always failed

“Do not believe in jail as a sealed destiny
Believe in a possibility of liberation
Which would have no meaning
If we were not (like) prisoners”


                                    *

A road goes nowhere
No exit at the top

Memo

What should be
Does not go without saying

What cannot be said . . .  
Should be written

The part leads to the whole
Which yields the part

Knowing what it’s like
Is our knowledge – non-absolute

There must be semblance
To achieve contiguity

The poem is of things coming
Which need to be fetched

                                    *

Comparison maintains the incomparable
The distinction of things between them
Poetry forbids identification
On the sweetness of like harsh
Common? Come-on
It’s all come
Come as if
It were a come-on

Poetry deprives itself to be-come
As a lover devours without devouring
To signify the letter of love
Ut musica ut pictura ut poiesis

Under bodily constraint due to loss
To vicariate sense into sense
Depriving itself of what's missing
The poem entrusts its lack to language
So the blind man may be known as the seer

                                    *

We’ll never get out of it
That’s what I wish for us but
Open an emergency exit
To get out without leaving
            If all has always failed

“Do not believe in jail as a sealed destiny
Believe in a possibility of liberation
Which would have no meaning
If we were not (like) prisoners”


                                    *

A road goes nowhere
No exit at the top
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère