Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Jan Erik Vold

Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows

Temple
bells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha

talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about

salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.

*

Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the

time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best

the
deleatur
of
everything.

*

Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have

to
be
asked
twice. Water

follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?

*

Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water

rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing

round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.

*

He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt

in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the

release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.

*

We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people

murder
us
by
compulsion. We

because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.

*

Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have

an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows

itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.

*

The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror

is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be

broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.

*

The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a

long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or

sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.

*

If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each

and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will

appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.

*

When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then

we’ll
know
what
the word

TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.

*

We keep quiet
about
what
we

know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference

between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.

SPEILET VET IKKE. HAVET VET

SPEILET VET IKKE. HAVET VET

Tempel
klokkene klang. Buddha
smiler. Jesus
blør. Buddha

snakker
om
lidelse. Jesus
om

frelse. Buddha
snakker om veien. Jesus
om
målet

*

Buddha
sier: Det gjør
vondt
hele

tiden. Jesus
sier: Til slutt
kommer
himmeriket. Buddha sier: I beste

fall
alle
tings
deleatur.

*

Vannet
om
bestemmer
seg ikke. Vannet

lar seg ikke
be
to
ganger. Vannet

følger
gradestokken. Is. Væske. Damp.
What
do I care?

*

Sky.
Sjø.
Glacière. What did I
care? Vannet

stiger. Vannet
sank. Vannet sliper
alle
ting

runde. Det skarpe
blir
rundt. Det skarpe blir rundt. Så
gikk lyset.

*

Han skjøt om seg
for å
drepe. Han spente bombebeltet
fast

for å
drepe. Hans tanke
ligger i
avtrekkeren, i

utløseren. Det er ingen
tanke.
Det
er tvang.

*

Vi dreper
fjell
folket
av tvang. Fjellfolket

dreper
oss
av
tvang. Vi

fordi vi har ideer. Ideer
er av
luft.
Fjellfolket bor.

*

Klippevegg
mot
klippevegg, så blir det
et

ekko? Men når det ene fjellet
sprenger
det andre
i filler? Eller sprenger

seg selv i filler? Da blir det å krype
ned i huler
og vente. Til berget kan formes
til en pyramide.

*

Den laveste
er den
høyeste, speil
vendt. Men når speilet

er
knust? Speilet
kan
ikke

knuses, kan ikke knuses, kan
ikke
knuses. Dersom det er
et hav.

*

Speilet
kan ikke
kikkertsiktesprenges
i

biter. Speilet
kan
bare
stige. Eller

synke. Synker speilet, stiger
vi
alle, opp
ned.

*

Stiger
speilet, drukner
vi, på
riktig. Ikke

vi
alle. Bare de fattige. Når de
fattige
forsvinner, kommer nye

til. Til slutt
er
det
vår tur.

*

Når Empire State
tindrer
som
et fyrtårn i havet. Da

ser
vi
hva
ordet

TERROR betød.
Da
behøves
ingen martyrpiloter.

*

Vi tier
om
det
vi

vet. De kloke
tier. De
dumme
tier. Det er ingen forskjell

på dum
og
klok. Speilet
vet ikke. Havet vet.
Close

Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows

Temple
bells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha

talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about

salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.

*

Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the

time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best

the
deleatur
of
everything.

*

Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have

to
be
asked
twice. Water

follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?

*

Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water

rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing

round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.

*

He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt

in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the

release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.

*

We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people

murder
us
by
compulsion. We

because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.

*

Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have

an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows

itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.

*

The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror

is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be

broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.

*

The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a

long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or

sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.

*

If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each

and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will

appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.

*

When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then

we’ll
know
what
the word

TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.

*

We keep quiet
about
what
we

know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference

between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.

Mirror Doesn’t Know. Ocean Knows

Temple
bells
ringing. Buddha smiles. Jesus
bleeds. Buddha

talks
about
suffering. Jesus
about

salvation. Buddha
talks about the road. Jesus
about
the goal.

*

Buddha
says: It hurts
all
the

time. Jesus
says: At the end
salvation
will come. Buddha says: At best

the
deleatur
of
everything.

*

Water
won’t
change
its mind. Water doesn’t have

to
be
asked
twice. Water

follows
the thermometer. Ice. Liquid. Steam.
What
do I care?

*

Cloud.
Sea.
Glacier. What did I
care? Water

rising. Water
sinking. Water will polish
every
thing

round. What's jagged
becomes
round. What's jagged becomes round. Then
the light went out.

*

He was shooting
in order
to kill. He fastened
his bomb belt

in order to
kill. His thought
is on
the trigger, on the

release. That is no
thought.
That is
compulsion.

*

We murder the
mountain
people
by compulsion. The mountain people

murder
us
by
compulsion. We

because we have ideas. Ideas
are made
of air.
The mountain people belong.

*

Cliff wall
against
cliff wall, and you’ll
have

an echo? But when one mountain
blows
the other
into pieces? Or blows

itself into pieces? Then you must
retreat into caves
and wait. Until the mountain can be shaped
into a pyramid.

*

The lowest
is the
highest, in the mirror's
reflection. But when the mirror

is
broken? The mirror
can’t
be

broken, can’t be broken, can’t
be
broken. If it is
an ocean.

*

The mirror
can’t
be shattered
by a

long-range scope rifle. The mirror
can
only
rise. Or

sink. If the mirror sinks, we will
all
rise, upside
down.

*

If the mirror
rises, we will
all
drown, for real. Not each

and every
one. Only the poor. When the
poor
vanish, others will

appear. In the end
it’ll be
our
turn.

*

When the
Empire State Building
beams
like a lighthouse in the ocean. Then

we’ll
know
what
the word

TERROR means.
Then
there’ll be
no need for martyr pilots.

*

We keep quiet
about
what
we

know. The wise
keep quiet. The
dumb
keep quiet. There is no difference

between dumb
and
wise. Mirror
doesn’t know. Ocean knows.
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