Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Daniel Falb

the glaciers push everything around

***


the glaciers push everything around, disturbing geologic

testimony, leaving abrasions in the bedrock.

the university helipad displays the signal of their pulse, in history,

into which i sink, dawson’s moths on each of my eyes,

dawson’s moths on my mouth.

in the folds spreading northeast around lake bonneville, since forever

two unversities, hostile to each other, have taken hold, whose configuration

shifts with the shifting ice sheet.

as chance would have it, sometimes one or the other had the upper hand. on one

of these days dawson marched up the south side of lone peak,

and as he passed a knoll he discovered a new drilling site

just above his own project, which

since nebraska’s glacial period had brought important scientific use, and for him

a considerable income.



an ice core is a beautiful and strange artifact.

the word of the founding of one uni overlaps and the word of the founding of natural phenomena

are one, and the word of the opposite founding of another

university with the opposite founding of the natural phenomena

are one. invisible over large periods of time, the period of foundings appears

in the core as a layer that remains unfrozen,

enclosing reeking leaves and molded, trembling moths. the great mystery,

enclosed by perpetual ice,

is the extraction of the ice core. when he, approaching,

recognized the university tattoo on my neck, he gasped

and tried to button his shirt very casually while the pulse in his temples

beat heavily. the natural law behind all the

phenomena, which i devoted all my years to investigating,

is you.

de gletsjers duwen alles rond

***

de gletsjers duwen alles rond, brengen wanorde in geologische

getuigen, laten schaafwonden achter in rotsgesteente.

helikopterlandingsplaats van de universiteit toont het signaal van haar pulseren, in de geschiedenis,

waarnaar ik afzak, dawsons vlinders op mijn beide ogen,

dawsons vlinders op mijn mond.

in de noordoostelijk vallende plooiingen rond het meer van bonneville hebben zich van oudsher

twee elkaar vijandig gezinde universiteiten gevestigd waarvan hun constellatie

zich met het ijsschild vervormde.

zoals het toeval het wil, heeft soms de ene, soms de andere de overhand. op een

van die dagen stiefelde dawson de zuidkant van de lone peak op,

en toen hij de hoogte gepasseerd was ontdekte hij een nieuwe boring

boven zijn eigen project dat

sinds het glaciaal van nebraska groot wetenschappelijk nut bewees en hem zelf een aanzienlijk inkomen

bezorgde.


de ijsboorkern is een fraai en raadselachtig artefact.

het woord van de oprichting van de ene ūni valt met het woord van de oprichting der natuurverschijnselen

samen, en het woord van de tegenoprichting van de andere

ūni valt met het woord van de tegenoprichting der natuurverschijnselen

samen. gedurende lange tijden haast doorzichtig tekent zich de periode van de oprichtingen

in essentie als onbevroren blijvende

laag af die stinkend loof en trillende muffe vlinders bevat. het grote geheim

dat eeuwig ijs bevat,

is de opbrengst van de boorkern. toen hij bij binnenstappen

de universiteitstattoo in mijn nek zag, moest dawson slikken,

en deed flink zijn best zijn overhemd onopvallend dicht te knopen, terwijl zijn pols hevig tegen zijn slapen

klopte. de natuurwet achter de

verschijnselen aan welks onderzoek al mijn jaren gewijd waren,

ben jij.

***


die gletscher schieben alles herum, bringen unordnung in geologische

zeugenschaft, hinterlassen schürfwunden im felsgestein.

hubschrauberlandeplatz der universität zeigt das signal ihres pulsierens, in der geschichte,

auf das hin ich sinke, dawson’s falter auf meinen beiden augen,

dawson’s falter auf meinem mund.

im nordöstlich ausgreifenden faltenwurf um den bonneviller see haben sich seit jeher

zwei einander feindliche universitäten festgesetzt, deren konstellation

sich mit dem eisschild verformte.

wie es der zufall will, hat mal die eine, mal die andere die oberhand. an einem

dieser tage stiefelte dawson die südseite des lone peak hinauf,

und als er die anhöhe passiert hatte, entdeckte er eine neue bohrung

oberhalb seines eigenen projekts, das

seit der nebraska kaltzeit großen wissenschaftlichen nutzen, und ihm ein erkleckliches einkomen,

beschert hatte.



der eisbohrkern ist ein schönes und rätselhaftes artefakt.

das wort der gründung der einen ūni fällt mit dem wort der gründung der naturerscheinungen

in eins, und das wort der gegengründung der anderen

ūni fällt mit dem wort der gegengründung der naturerscheinungen

in eins. über lange zeiten fast durchsichtig, zeichnet sich die periode der gründungen

im kern als ungefroren bleibende

schicht ab, die stinkendes laub und zittrige modrige falter in sich schließt. das große geheimnis,

das ewiges eis in sich schließt,

ist die entnahme des bohrkerns. als er im herantreten

das universitätstattoo an meinem hals erkannte, musste dawson schlucken,

und bemühte sich, sein hemd ganz unauffällig zuzuknöpfen, während der puls heftig an seine schläfen

pochte. das naturgesetz hinter den

erscheinungen, deren erforschung all meine jahre gewidmet waren,

bist du.
Close

the glaciers push everything around

***


the glaciers push everything around, disturbing geologic

testimony, leaving abrasions in the bedrock.

the university helipad displays the signal of their pulse, in history,

into which i sink, dawson’s moths on each of my eyes,

dawson’s moths on my mouth.

in the folds spreading northeast around lake bonneville, since forever

two unversities, hostile to each other, have taken hold, whose configuration

shifts with the shifting ice sheet.

as chance would have it, sometimes one or the other had the upper hand. on one

of these days dawson marched up the south side of lone peak,

and as he passed a knoll he discovered a new drilling site

just above his own project, which

since nebraska’s glacial period had brought important scientific use, and for him

a considerable income.



an ice core is a beautiful and strange artifact.

the word of the founding of one uni overlaps and the word of the founding of natural phenomena

are one, and the word of the opposite founding of another

university with the opposite founding of the natural phenomena

are one. invisible over large periods of time, the period of foundings appears

in the core as a layer that remains unfrozen,

enclosing reeking leaves and molded, trembling moths. the great mystery,

enclosed by perpetual ice,

is the extraction of the ice core. when he, approaching,

recognized the university tattoo on my neck, he gasped

and tried to button his shirt very casually while the pulse in his temples

beat heavily. the natural law behind all the

phenomena, which i devoted all my years to investigating,

is you.

the glaciers push everything around

***


the glaciers push everything around, disturbing geologic

testimony, leaving abrasions in the bedrock.

the university helipad displays the signal of their pulse, in history,

into which i sink, dawson’s moths on each of my eyes,

dawson’s moths on my mouth.

in the folds spreading northeast around lake bonneville, since forever

two unversities, hostile to each other, have taken hold, whose configuration

shifts with the shifting ice sheet.

as chance would have it, sometimes one or the other had the upper hand. on one

of these days dawson marched up the south side of lone peak,

and as he passed a knoll he discovered a new drilling site

just above his own project, which

since nebraska’s glacial period had brought important scientific use, and for him

a considerable income.



an ice core is a beautiful and strange artifact.

the word of the founding of one uni overlaps and the word of the founding of natural phenomena

are one, and the word of the opposite founding of another

university with the opposite founding of the natural phenomena

are one. invisible over large periods of time, the period of foundings appears

in the core as a layer that remains unfrozen,

enclosing reeking leaves and molded, trembling moths. the great mystery,

enclosed by perpetual ice,

is the extraction of the ice core. when he, approaching,

recognized the university tattoo on my neck, he gasped

and tried to button his shirt very casually while the pulse in his temples

beat heavily. the natural law behind all the

phenomena, which i devoted all my years to investigating,

is you.
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
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