Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Thomas Kling

stratum II (double-headed hermes)



gaze at the mountains’ mirror: are those the heights?
graphic provençal, trickling graphite. rub

some off. the plunge of lead into paper?
into the spoken? and again: spoken speech? the

face is the target. the targeted constraint. the
voice, subdued and rattling, gnashing

and gurgling effusively. bootlegged
tongue tool, burglar’s tool, when lists

of memory protocols slowly move
past: a rubbing, a shard, out of a regulated

childhood, out of the blue clattering of slide
projectors. crusty lips, painfully cracked lips

of the stylites. a dirty hand points at your face.

schicht II (doppelherme)

schicht II (doppelherme)

in den bergspiegel blickn; ist das di höhe?
grafi, provencalisch, graphitgeriesel. ab

rieb. das stürze, als höhenblei, sich ins papier?
in geredete, und wieder: geredete rede? das

gesicht ist di peilwand. der peilzwang. di
stimme, bezwungn und scheppernd, im kni

rschn rieselndn wohllauts, gebootlegtes
zungnzeug, wenn das raubzeug, wenn listn

von gedächtnisprotokollen sich vorbei
schiem: abrieb, abschliff. aus vorschrift

licher kindheit; aus blau durchklackerndn
dias. krustige lippe, scharfkrustige stylitn

lippe. kothand di weist stracks ins gesicht.
Close

stratum II (double-headed hermes)



gaze at the mountains’ mirror: are those the heights?
graphic provençal, trickling graphite. rub

some off. the plunge of lead into paper?
into the spoken? and again: spoken speech? the

face is the target. the targeted constraint. the
voice, subdued and rattling, gnashing

and gurgling effusively. bootlegged
tongue tool, burglar’s tool, when lists

of memory protocols slowly move
past: a rubbing, a shard, out of a regulated

childhood, out of the blue clattering of slide
projectors. crusty lips, painfully cracked lips

of the stylites. a dirty hand points at your face.

stratum II (double-headed hermes)



gaze at the mountains’ mirror: are those the heights?
graphic provençal, trickling graphite. rub

some off. the plunge of lead into paper?
into the spoken? and again: spoken speech? the

face is the target. the targeted constraint. the
voice, subdued and rattling, gnashing

and gurgling effusively. bootlegged
tongue tool, burglar’s tool, when lists

of memory protocols slowly move
past: a rubbing, a shard, out of a regulated

childhood, out of the blue clattering of slide
projectors. crusty lips, painfully cracked lips

of the stylites. a dirty hand points at your face.
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