Poem
Anne Kawala
SONG OF THE HUNTRESS GATHERESS
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
© Translation: 2017, Kit Schluter
ZANG VAN DE JAGERES-VERZAMELAARSTER
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
nergens is vandaag mijn land
verbannen ben ik uit datgene dat,
zijn bomen zijn verdwenen,
ver van hier en nu,
ceders, berken, baobabs, beukelaars,
eiken, linden, kerselaars, treurwilgen,
op sommige avonden de aarde,
droog en vochtig, zuur, basisch,
neutraal,
alle bomen zijn
voortaan die van mijn land,
wij gaan naar, en naar
weten we niet wat we aan zullen treffen
op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
zoals de bossen voorbijgaan, de vlakten, de bergen, de oevers
en de stranden, naakt en onbedekt, om te ontdekken;
op de drempel van de rivier, waar van een fossiele walvis
de stenen baleinen, granieten zuilen
ons kwetsbaar achterlaten aan de voeten van hun steile wanden
het is, voor donker, de noodzakelijke toevlucht vinden
bij mannen en vrouwen,
vuur,
ze dringen aan, we beginnen opnieuw
een bosrand, dan het woud, op de loer,
ontzaglijk zijn de geluiden van het woud
angstaanjagend, dieren, beesten en mannen, vrouwen en schimmen,
barbaars, mogelijk,
mogelijk,
het bos, het kreupelhout,
het clair-obscur, de ingebedde diagonalen
van licht en insecten,
bezweringen van ik weet niet wat,
komt de angst op
voor ik weet niet wat: zo is de angst,
op de loer
en, zij vieren
beschermen mij,
we lopen, en,
ik, trompetten & gezang, onzichtbaar, wij verheffen, het licht valt
en van de stille lichamen van mijn gezellen, hun stemmen, eenstemmig, een-
tonig, zijn bewegingloos, schreeuwen en roepen mij, ik
verhef me, hoor ze, verdwijnen
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik,
in de lucht, zwevend, loop
zoals nooit ik nooit gelopen heb
voel de grond die niet,
niet meer, onder mijn voeten is,
ik
boven het bos,
bos zich uitstrekkend voor mijn ogen, duizeling, duizeling
van de bergen, de onopgerolde vlakten, en
ik loop, de sterren raak ik aan
en de maan en
ik loop tot het ochtend wordt
in de stenige et schitterende stilte
van de sterren
tot
tot ik daar aankom waarnaar
we op weg waren,
ik ben daar, in één nacht,
aangekomen
aangekomen,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
in de ijskoude lucht maakt haar adem
haar zichtbaar, de nevel en het licht
die ontstaan uit het oosten en de zon,
ontsluieren, onthullen haar,
gasvormig en waterig,
verhelen, openen, vouwen en draperen
het elders het nergens en het onbekende,
de mysterieuze nacht waar zij vandaan komt,
óp stuift, als stof, de platgetreden aarde van de weg,
ze gaat voort, zijn vraag
krijgt vorm, hij vraagt om haar, vraagt mij om
haar te komen halen, hier te komen, waar zij
bewegingloos bewegend staat,
komt dichterbij, nadert mij,
weet van mij dat ik het ben
haar hand op mijn schouder en haar glimlach,
die kom
om haar te halen, haar te leiden,
voorbij de ringmuur, de stad, doorheen,
in rust, zijn details afgetekend
door de ijskoude ochtendlucht,
tot aan het huis van wie,
van hem die, van mijn meester,
waar mijn oude jaguarmeester,
wacht, haar wacht,
in stilte,
in stilte, wij
in de stad, op weg naar,
wat zij weet, wat zij niet kent,
in stilte komen wij aan
voor de plaats
daar waar hij
haar wacht, waar, de drempel voorbij, alleen zij binnengaat,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
een alligatorvrouw
een kolibriman
een spinaapman
een hertevrouw
een boaman
een toekanvrouw
aan tafel, zien me aan,
zwijgend,
bezien elkaar, zwijgend, en als
één man, samen, wijzen ze
mij de trap, sporen mij aan,
gezamenlijk, die op te gaan,
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
de overloop
de deur
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
op een kier, door het deurgat lokt me het hol
van de jaguarmeester, zijn tegenlicht, zijn keerzij, zijn rug,
onzichtbaar gezicht gericht naar het raam, de handen laag gekruist,
kijkt en luistert hij naar het gegrom
van de rivier
waarin de zijnen wenden
en keert zich om, toont zijn jaguargezicht: kom binnen
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
naderend, zij op wie
ik wachtte, aangekomen, eindelijk, daar,
niet buiten en niet binnen
rechtop staat ze
en aarzelt ten overstaan van
bustes, sokkels, afgietsels van handen, torsen, gezichten, lichamen, astrolabia, sextanten,
octanten, kompassen, alhidaden, jacobsstaffen, passers, loggen, azafea,
oehoe, hermelijn, bruine beer, wasbeer, slangen, stokstaartjes,
opgezette papegaaien, schelpen, stenen, opgeprikte vlinders en spinnen,
vijzels, kommen, schalen, borden, cassettes, edelstenen, muntjes,
parels, open en dichte kistjes, beurzen, buidels, zakjes met specerijen,
bloemblaadjes, poeders, pigmenten, geplukte, samengebonden en opgehangen kruiden,
potten met onkruid, kattenkruid, vaste en kweekplanten,
uitbottende kersen-, appel-, perziktakken, armenvol bloemen,
veelkleurige, fletse, groeiende, vazen met brak water, geciseleerde,
gladde, volle, lege, matte en transparante flessen met purperen,
paarse, groenige, piskleurige, okeren, bruinige, stroopzwarte vloeistoffen, toverdranken, inkten,
penselen, veren,
schedels, botten, eierschalen, anatomische schema’s opgerolde kaarten en andere
uitgevouwen oceanen en firmamenten, een zee van op de grond gegooide slingerende papieren, harnassen,
dolken, degens, sabels, pistolen, musketten, stoffen, laken, bont, fluweel,
zijde, katoen, wit, effen, gekleurd, met motieven die alles voorstellen
wat hier te vinden is,
om te naderen,
kantelt, halve ellips,
gravitair, in het halfmiddelpunt
sta
ik, zij
zigzagt tussen, laveert,
opengesperd blikken haar ogen naar
mij
komt op me af,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
wij,
wij, in vervoering, de onmiddellijkheid van,
wij die niet,
onze monden op onze monden op onze gezichten op
onze halzen en onze schouders,
worden herboren, herkennen
een
herinnering met betrekking tot, tot de, daar
aan de, aan onze lichamen
elkaar
omhelzwervend
sindsdien, het weer wisselvallig, een wolk,
een bui, een zonsverduistering,
de nacht de dag,
vervoerd,
ons vervoerend, kantelend, kantelen
de lijnen, de rasters, de
dingen
meegevoerd in onze beweging, die ons
volgen, voorafgaan, vergezellen,
onmiddellijk, nucleair, uiteenspattend
op de grond,
wij,
op de grond, gehuld in
onze, ons,
pulserende onhedens,
vergelijkingsmontages
totdat
niet meer, wij
meer
dan in ons het begeeft
wat gebeurt, tot we
ons liquistitueren
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
gelukkig, heel gelukkig,
spuit ik vervloei ik en vloei en vloei en vloei, ik doordrenk de lakens en
stroom over de vloer, ondeelbaar en gedeeld, ik vervloei en vloei
en vloei tussen de latten, naar de deur, onder de deur door, ik slip, glip,
ik stort, stort, stort omlaag, ik stuiter, spring, loop, loop, loop,
spetter van tree op tree, ik vermeng me met de kalk en doordrenk het hout,
ik stort en spat, ik besproei hier een schedel, daar het astrolabium, daar de
U van een half uitgerolde kaart, ik doordrenk het papier, de inkt loopt uit, een meer
tekent zich af, stort omlaag,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik stort omlaag, van tree op tree, stort omlaag, de waslaag stoot me af, splitst me,
druppeltjes, onmengbaar druip ik, sijpel ik, spuit ik, vervloei ik,
spuit, ontplof, een meer loopt leeg, ik ben een meer en een fontein, ondeelbaar en
gedeeld, vloei, vloei, opgenomen door zijde, dons, wol, ik strek me uit,
vorm een plas, onderaan de trap, ik strek me uit, ik ril onder lichte stappen, een kelk
van handen neemt me op en brengt me naar de lippen, men drinkt mij, ik word opgeslokt,
Dan voegt de stem van de jageres-verzamelaarster zich bij de hare:
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik ben in hun kelen, ik word gedronken aan de bron,
ik lig op de rasperige tong, ik stroom door de slokdarmen, ik
dring door in magen, aders en bloedvaten, circuleer in bloed,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik spring, spring, bevrijd, spuit, spring, ik strek me uit, ik plens, plens,
grote plens, ik loop dooreen, sijpel, drup, druppels in de plas, ik
vloei en word opgenomen, ik doordrenk, ik loop over, ik maak huid
en haren nat, ik overstroom, muren dammen me in, ik stijg, ik stijg, ik spuit,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik overspoel, ik stort, ik word gevreesd, ontvlucht, ik lik aan voeten, handen,
meubels, vlammen, vuur, ik sis, verdamp, blus, in mij lost de
as op, ik drijf, sla neer, sijpel, val terug in
mijzelf, ik spuit, stijg, spuit, stroom, ik spring, val, opgenomen,
ingedamd, ik bevloei lichamen, loop tussen vingers door, ik word gedronken,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
vermengd met speeksel, het speeksel verdund, ik word uitgespuwd, ik spuit, ik word gedronken,
ik bedek, ik dompel onder, ik vul, ik stroom over, vloeibaar vuurwerk, ik
gorgel, als ik word opgevangen spring ik in het oog dat me observeert, ik vloei eruit,
ik overstroom, ik bedek dijen, buik, flanken, borsten, keel met mijn bron, ik droog op,
ik trek me terug, mijn bron slaapt in,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
nergens is vandaag mijn land
verbannen ben ik uit datgene dat,
zijn bomen zijn verdwenen,
ver van hier en nu,
ceders, berken, baobabs, beukelaars,
eiken, linden, kerselaars, treurwilgen,
op sommige avonden de aarde,
droog en vochtig, zuur, basisch,
neutraal,
alle bomen zijn
voortaan die van mijn land,
wij gaan naar, en naar
weten we niet wat we aan zullen treffen
op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
zoals de bossen voorbijgaan, de vlakten, de bergen, de oevers
en de stranden, naakt en onbedekt, om te ontdekken;
op de drempel van de rivier, waar van een fossiele walvis
de stenen baleinen, granieten zuilen
ons kwetsbaar achterlaten aan de voeten van hun steile wanden
het is, voor donker, de noodzakelijke toevlucht vinden
bij mannen en vrouwen,
vuur,
ze dringen aan, we beginnen opnieuw
een bosrand, dan het woud, op de loer,
ontzaglijk zijn de geluiden van het woud
angstaanjagend, dieren, beesten en mannen, vrouwen en schimmen,
barbaars, mogelijk,
mogelijk,
het bos, het kreupelhout,
het clair-obscur, de ingebedde diagonalen
van licht en insecten,
bezweringen van ik weet niet wat,
komt de angst op
voor ik weet niet wat: zo is de angst,
op de loer
en, zij vieren
beschermen mij,
we lopen, en,
ik, trompetten & gezang, onzichtbaar, wij verheffen, het licht valt
en van de stille lichamen van mijn gezellen, hun stemmen, eenstemmig, een-
tonig, zijn bewegingloos, schreeuwen en roepen mij, ik
verhef me, hoor ze, verdwijnen
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik,
in de lucht, zwevend, loop
zoals nooit ik nooit gelopen heb
voel de grond die niet,
niet meer, onder mijn voeten is,
ik
boven het bos,
bos zich uitstrekkend voor mijn ogen, duizeling, duizeling
van de bergen, de onopgerolde vlakten, en
ik loop, de sterren raak ik aan
en de maan en
ik loop tot het ochtend wordt
in de stenige et schitterende stilte
van de sterren
tot
tot ik daar aankom waarnaar
we op weg waren,
ik ben daar, in één nacht,
aangekomen
aangekomen,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
in de ijskoude lucht maakt haar adem
haar zichtbaar, de nevel en het licht
die ontstaan uit het oosten en de zon,
ontsluieren, onthullen haar,
gasvormig en waterig,
verhelen, openen, vouwen en draperen
het elders het nergens en het onbekende,
de mysterieuze nacht waar zij vandaan komt,
óp stuift, als stof, de platgetreden aarde van de weg,
ze gaat voort, zijn vraag
krijgt vorm, hij vraagt om haar, vraagt mij om
haar te komen halen, hier te komen, waar zij
bewegingloos bewegend staat,
komt dichterbij, nadert mij,
weet van mij dat ik het ben
haar hand op mijn schouder en haar glimlach,
die kom
om haar te halen, haar te leiden,
voorbij de ringmuur, de stad, doorheen,
in rust, zijn details afgetekend
door de ijskoude ochtendlucht,
tot aan het huis van wie,
van hem die, van mijn meester,
waar mijn oude jaguarmeester,
wacht, haar wacht,
in stilte,
in stilte, wij
in de stad, op weg naar,
wat zij weet, wat zij niet kent,
in stilte komen wij aan
voor de plaats
daar waar hij
haar wacht, waar, de drempel voorbij, alleen zij binnengaat,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
een alligatorvrouw
een kolibriman
een spinaapman
een hertevrouw
een boaman
een toekanvrouw
aan tafel, zien me aan,
zwijgend,
bezien elkaar, zwijgend, en als
één man, samen, wijzen ze
mij de trap, sporen mij aan,
gezamenlijk, die op te gaan,
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
tree
na
de overloop
de deur
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
op een kier, door het deurgat lokt me het hol
van de jaguarmeester, zijn tegenlicht, zijn keerzij, zijn rug,
onzichtbaar gezicht gericht naar het raam, de handen laag gekruist,
kijkt en luistert hij naar het gegrom
van de rivier
waarin de zijnen wenden
en keert zich om, toont zijn jaguargezicht: kom binnen
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
naderend, zij op wie
ik wachtte, aangekomen, eindelijk, daar,
niet buiten en niet binnen
rechtop staat ze
en aarzelt ten overstaan van
bustes, sokkels, afgietsels van handen, torsen, gezichten, lichamen, astrolabia, sextanten,
octanten, kompassen, alhidaden, jacobsstaffen, passers, loggen, azafea,
oehoe, hermelijn, bruine beer, wasbeer, slangen, stokstaartjes,
opgezette papegaaien, schelpen, stenen, opgeprikte vlinders en spinnen,
vijzels, kommen, schalen, borden, cassettes, edelstenen, muntjes,
parels, open en dichte kistjes, beurzen, buidels, zakjes met specerijen,
bloemblaadjes, poeders, pigmenten, geplukte, samengebonden en opgehangen kruiden,
potten met onkruid, kattenkruid, vaste en kweekplanten,
uitbottende kersen-, appel-, perziktakken, armenvol bloemen,
veelkleurige, fletse, groeiende, vazen met brak water, geciseleerde,
gladde, volle, lege, matte en transparante flessen met purperen,
paarse, groenige, piskleurige, okeren, bruinige, stroopzwarte vloeistoffen, toverdranken, inkten,
penselen, veren,
schedels, botten, eierschalen, anatomische schema’s opgerolde kaarten en andere
uitgevouwen oceanen en firmamenten, een zee van op de grond gegooide slingerende papieren, harnassen,
dolken, degens, sabels, pistolen, musketten, stoffen, laken, bont, fluweel,
zijde, katoen, wit, effen, gekleurd, met motieven die alles voorstellen
wat hier te vinden is,
om te naderen,
kantelt, halve ellips,
gravitair, in het halfmiddelpunt
sta
ik, zij
zigzagt tussen, laveert,
opengesperd blikken haar ogen naar
mij
komt op me af,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
wij,
wij, in vervoering, de onmiddellijkheid van,
wij die niet,
onze monden op onze monden op onze gezichten op
onze halzen en onze schouders,
worden herboren, herkennen
een
herinnering met betrekking tot, tot de, daar
aan de, aan onze lichamen
elkaar
omhelzwervend
sindsdien, het weer wisselvallig, een wolk,
een bui, een zonsverduistering,
de nacht de dag,
vervoerd,
ons vervoerend, kantelend, kantelen
de lijnen, de rasters, de
dingen
meegevoerd in onze beweging, die ons
volgen, voorafgaan, vergezellen,
onmiddellijk, nucleair, uiteenspattend
op de grond,
wij,
op de grond, gehuld in
onze, ons,
pulserende onhedens,
vergelijkingsmontages
totdat
niet meer, wij
meer
dan in ons het begeeft
wat gebeurt, tot we
ons liquistitueren
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
gelukkig, heel gelukkig,
spuit ik vervloei ik en vloei en vloei en vloei, ik doordrenk de lakens en
stroom over de vloer, ondeelbaar en gedeeld, ik vervloei en vloei
en vloei tussen de latten, naar de deur, onder de deur door, ik slip, glip,
ik stort, stort, stort omlaag, ik stuiter, spring, loop, loop, loop,
spetter van tree op tree, ik vermeng me met de kalk en doordrenk het hout,
ik stort en spat, ik besproei hier een schedel, daar het astrolabium, daar de
U van een half uitgerolde kaart, ik doordrenk het papier, de inkt loopt uit, een meer
tekent zich af, stort omlaag,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik stort omlaag, van tree op tree, stort omlaag, de waslaag stoot me af, splitst me,
druppeltjes, onmengbaar druip ik, sijpel ik, spuit ik, vervloei ik,
spuit, ontplof, een meer loopt leeg, ik ben een meer en een fontein, ondeelbaar en
gedeeld, vloei, vloei, opgenomen door zijde, dons, wol, ik strek me uit,
vorm een plas, onderaan de trap, ik strek me uit, ik ril onder lichte stappen, een kelk
van handen neemt me op en brengt me naar de lippen, men drinkt mij, ik word opgeslokt,
Dan voegt de stem van de jageres-verzamelaarster zich bij de hare:
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik ben in hun kelen, ik word gedronken aan de bron,
ik lig op de rasperige tong, ik stroom door de slokdarmen, ik
dring door in magen, aders en bloedvaten, circuleer in bloed,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik spring, spring, bevrijd, spuit, spring, ik strek me uit, ik plens, plens,
grote plens, ik loop dooreen, sijpel, drup, druppels in de plas, ik
vloei en word opgenomen, ik doordrenk, ik loop over, ik maak huid
en haren nat, ik overstroom, muren dammen me in, ik stijg, ik stijg, ik spuit,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
ik overspoel, ik stort, ik word gevreesd, ontvlucht, ik lik aan voeten, handen,
meubels, vlammen, vuur, ik sis, verdamp, blus, in mij lost de
as op, ik drijf, sla neer, sijpel, val terug in
mijzelf, ik spuit, stijg, spuit, stroom, ik spring, val, opgenomen,
ingedamd, ik bevloei lichamen, loop tussen vingers door, ik word gedronken,
de drempel waarvan het hart de kracht is,
zijn debiet, zijn zachtheid en zijn razernij
beluisterd, wordt alles verbonden en meegesleept,
roept me, op onze tochten gaan de dagen voorbij,
vermengd met speeksel, het speeksel verdund, ik word uitgespuwd, ik spuit, ik word gedronken,
ik bedek, ik dompel onder, ik vul, ik stroom over, vloeibaar vuurwerk, ik
gorgel, als ik word opgevangen spring ik in het oog dat me observeert, ik vloei eruit,
ik overstroom, ik bedek dijen, buik, flanken, borsten, keel met mijn bron, ik droog op,
ik trek me terug, mijn bron slaapt in,
© Vertaling: 2017, Kim Andringa
CHASSEUSE-CUEILLEUSE
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
nulle part est aujourd’hui mon pays,
j’ai été bannie de celui qui,
ses arbres ont disparu,
loin d’ici et de maintenant,
cèdres, bouleaux, baobabs, hêtres,
chênes, tilleuls, cerisiers, saules pleureurs,
quelque soir la terre,
sèche et humide, aigre, alcaline,
neutre,
tous les arbres sont
désormais ceux de mon pays,
nous allons vers, et vers
nous ne savons ce que nous trouverons
dans nos marches les jours passent,
comme passent les forêts, les plaines, les montagnes, les berges
et les plages, nues et découvertes, à découvrir ;
au seuil de la rivière, où d’une baleine fossile,
les fanons de pierre, un orgue de granit
nous laisse fragiles aux pieds de ses à-pics
c’est, avant la nuit, trouver le refuge nécessaire
des hommes et des femmes,
du feu,
ils insistent, nous reprenons
une orée, puis les bois, à l’affût,
des bois les bruits sont immenses
effrayants, bestiaux, bêtes et hommes, femmes et chimères,
barbares, possibles,
possibles,
la forêt, le sous-bois,
les clairs-obscurs, les diagonales enchâssées
de lumière et d’insectes,
incantations à, que sais-je,
monte la peur
de, que sais-je : c’est cela la peur,
affût de
et, eux quatre
me protégent,
nous marchons, et,
je, trompettes & chants, invisibles, nous élevons, la lumière tombe,
et des corps inertes de mes compagnons, leurs voix, unies, monocordes,
sont immobiles, crient et m’appellent, je
m’élève, les entends, disparaissent
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je,
en l’air, suspendue, marche,
comme jamais je n’ai jamais marché
sentant le sol qui n’est pas,
plus, sous mes pieds,
je
au-dessus de la forêt,
offerte forêt à mon regard, vertige, vertige
des montagnes, des plaines désenroulées, et
je marche, les étoiles je les touche
et la lune et
je marche jusqu’au matin
dans le silence pierreux et scintillant
des étoiles
jusqu’à
jusqu’à parvenir là où
nous nous rendions,
je suis là, en une nuit,
arrivée
arrivée,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
dans l’air glacé, son souffle
la rend visible, la brume et la lumière,
naissant de l’Est et du soleil,
la découpent, la découvrent,
gazeuse et aqueuse,
voilent, ouvrent, plissent et drapent
l’ailleurs le nulle part et l’inconnu,
la nuit mystérieuse d’où elle vient,
s’envole, poudreuse, la terre battue du chemin,
elle avance, se précise
sa demande, il la demande, me demande de
venir la chercher, venir ici, là où elle
immobile en mouvement se tient,
s’approche, vers moi,
sachant de moi que c’est moi
sa main sur mon épaule et son sourire,
qui vient
la chercher, la conduire,
l’enceinte passée, la ville, à travers,
endormie, ses détails découpés
par l’air glacé du matin,
jusqu’à la maison de qui,
de celui qui, de mon maître,
où mon vieux maître jaguar,
attend, l’attend,
silencieux,
silencieux, nous
dans la ville, avançant vers,
ce qu’elle sait, qu’elle ne connaît pas,
silencieux, nous arrivons
au devant de
là où il
l’attend, où, le seuil passé, seule elle pénètre,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
une femme-alligator
un homme-colibri
un homme-singe-araignée
une femme-cerf
un homme-boa
une femme-toucan
attablés, me dévisagent,
muets,
s’envisagent, muets, et d’un
seul mouvement, ensemble me
désignent l’escalier, m’enjoignent,
conjoints, de le gravir,
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
le palier
la porte
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
entr’ouverte, par l’embrasure m’embrasse l’antre
du maître jaguar, son contre-jour, son revers, son dos,
invisible face face à la fenêtre, ses mains croisées bas,
il regarde et écoute les grognements
du fleuve
dans lequel les siens voltent
face, sa face jaguarienne à nu : entrez
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
s’approchant, elle que
j’attendais, arrivée, enfin, là,
ni hors, ni dans
debout elle se tient
et hésite devant
bustes, socles, mains, troncs, visages, corps moulés, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, boussoles, alidades, bâtons de Jacob, compas, lochs, azafea,
grand duc, hermine, ours brun, raton-laveur, serpents, surricates,
perroquets naturalisés, coquillages, pierres, lépidoptères et araignées
épinglés, pilons, bols, plats, assiettes, cassettes, pierreries, piécettes,
perles, coffres ouverts et fermés, bourses, sachets, sacs d’épices, de
pétales, de poudres, de pigments, herbes cueillies, ligaturées et
suspendues, plantes en pot mauvaises, à chat, vivaces, cultivées,
branches de cerisiers, pommiers, pêchers bourgeonnant brassées de
fleurs multicolores, ternes, poussant, vases à l’eau croupie, ciselés, lisses,
pleins, vides, bouteilles opaques et translucides aux liquides purpurins,
violets, verdâtres, pisseux, ocres, brunâtres, mélassiques, philtres, encres,
pinceaux, plumes,
crânes, os, coquilles d’oeufs, planches anatomique cartes enroulées et celles
déployées océans et cieux, mer de papiers jetés, laissés au sol, armures,
dagues, épées, sabres, pistolets, mousquets, étoffes, laines, fourrures, velours,
soieries, cotonnades, blanches, unies, colorées, aux motifs reprenant tout ce
qui se trouve ici,
à avancer vers,
bascule, mi-ellipse,
gravitaire, au demi-centre
je
me tiens, elle
serpente entre, louvoie,
écarquillés ses yeux dardent vers
moi
s’élance,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
nous,
nous, transportés, l’immédiateté de,
nous qui ne,
nos bouches sur nos bouches sur nos visages sur
nos cous et nos épaules,
renaissant, reconnaissant,
quelque
souvenir afférent à, au, là
aux, à nos corps
nous
embrasserrant
depuis, le temps variant, un nuage,
une ondée, une éclipse,
la nuit le jour,
transportés,
nous transportant, basculant, basculent
les fils, les trames, les
objets
emportés dans notre mouvement, nous
suivant, précédant, accompagnant,
immédiats, nucléaires, éclatant
sur le sol,
nous,
sur le sol, s’enveloppant de
nos, nous,
pulsatiles imprésents,
équationnels montages
jusqu’à
plus, nous
plus
qu’en nous cède
ce qui advient, que nous
nous liquistituons
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
heureuse, très heureuse,
je jaillis je m’écoule et coule et coule et coule, j’imbibe les draps et
me répands sur le plancher, indivisible et divisée, je m’écoule et coule
et coule entre les lames, vers la porte, sous la porte, je me glisse, me faufile,
je cascade, cascade, cascade, je bondis, saute, marche, marche, marche,
éclabousse de marche en marche, je me mêle à la chaux et imbibe le bois,
je cascade et me projette, je jaillis là sur un crâne, là sur l’astrolabe, là sur le
U d’une carte à demi-déroulée, j’imbibe le papier, l’encre se dilue, un lac se
dessine, cascade,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je cascade, de marches en marches, cascade, la cire me repousse, elle me scinde,
gouttelettes, immiscible je goutte, je suinte, je jaillis, je m’écoule,
jaillis, explose, un lac se vide, je suis un lac et une fontaine, indivisible et
divisée, coule, coule, absorbée par les soies, le duvet, la laine, je m’étends,
flaque, au pied de l’escalier, je m’étends, je vibre sous des pas légers, des mains
en conque me recueillent et me portent aux lèvres, je suis lappée, on me boit,
La voix de la chasseuse-cueilleuse la rejoint alors :
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je suis dans leurs gosiers, je suis bue à la source,
je suis sur la langue râpeuse, je descends le long d’oesophages, je
pénètre des estomacs, des artères, des veines, circule dans des sangs,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je bondis, bondis, libérée, jaillis, bondis, je m’étends, je flaque, flaque,
large flaque, je me réunis, suinte, goutte, gouttes dans la flaque, je
coule et suis absorbée, j’imprègne, je déborde, je mouille peau et
poils, j’inonde, les murs me retiennent, je monte, je monte, je jaillis,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je défèrle, je cascade, je fais peur, on me fuit, je lèche pieds, mains,
meubles, flammes, feu, je grésille, m’évapore, j’éteins, en moi se diluent les
cendres, je flotte, me condense, suinte, retombe en
moi-même, je jaillis, monte, jaillis, cours, je saute, tombe, absorbée,
retenue, j’irrigue des corps, je glisse entre des doigts, je suis bue,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
mêlée à la salive, la salive se dilue, je suis crachée, je jaillis, je suis bue,
je recouvre, j’immerge, j’emplis, je déborde, feu d’artifice liquide, je
gargouille, receuillie je bondis dans l’oeil qui m’observe, j’en coule,
j’inonde, je recouvre cuisses, ventre, flancs, seins, gorge de ma source, je taris,
je reflue, ma source s’endort,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
nulle part est aujourd’hui mon pays,
j’ai été bannie de celui qui,
ses arbres ont disparu,
loin d’ici et de maintenant,
cèdres, bouleaux, baobabs, hêtres,
chênes, tilleuls, cerisiers, saules pleureurs,
quelque soir la terre,
sèche et humide, aigre, alcaline,
neutre,
tous les arbres sont
désormais ceux de mon pays,
nous allons vers, et vers
nous ne savons ce que nous trouverons
dans nos marches les jours passent,
comme passent les forêts, les plaines, les montagnes, les berges
et les plages, nues et découvertes, à découvrir ;
au seuil de la rivière, où d’une baleine fossile,
les fanons de pierre, un orgue de granit
nous laisse fragiles aux pieds de ses à-pics
c’est, avant la nuit, trouver le refuge nécessaire
des hommes et des femmes,
du feu,
ils insistent, nous reprenons
une orée, puis les bois, à l’affût,
des bois les bruits sont immenses
effrayants, bestiaux, bêtes et hommes, femmes et chimères,
barbares, possibles,
possibles,
la forêt, le sous-bois,
les clairs-obscurs, les diagonales enchâssées
de lumière et d’insectes,
incantations à, que sais-je,
monte la peur
de, que sais-je : c’est cela la peur,
affût de
et, eux quatre
me protégent,
nous marchons, et,
je, trompettes & chants, invisibles, nous élevons, la lumière tombe,
et des corps inertes de mes compagnons, leurs voix, unies, monocordes,
sont immobiles, crient et m’appellent, je
m’élève, les entends, disparaissent
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je,
en l’air, suspendue, marche,
comme jamais je n’ai jamais marché
sentant le sol qui n’est pas,
plus, sous mes pieds,
je
au-dessus de la forêt,
offerte forêt à mon regard, vertige, vertige
des montagnes, des plaines désenroulées, et
je marche, les étoiles je les touche
et la lune et
je marche jusqu’au matin
dans le silence pierreux et scintillant
des étoiles
jusqu’à
jusqu’à parvenir là où
nous nous rendions,
je suis là, en une nuit,
arrivée
arrivée,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
dans l’air glacé, son souffle
la rend visible, la brume et la lumière,
naissant de l’Est et du soleil,
la découpent, la découvrent,
gazeuse et aqueuse,
voilent, ouvrent, plissent et drapent
l’ailleurs le nulle part et l’inconnu,
la nuit mystérieuse d’où elle vient,
s’envole, poudreuse, la terre battue du chemin,
elle avance, se précise
sa demande, il la demande, me demande de
venir la chercher, venir ici, là où elle
immobile en mouvement se tient,
s’approche, vers moi,
sachant de moi que c’est moi
sa main sur mon épaule et son sourire,
qui vient
la chercher, la conduire,
l’enceinte passée, la ville, à travers,
endormie, ses détails découpés
par l’air glacé du matin,
jusqu’à la maison de qui,
de celui qui, de mon maître,
où mon vieux maître jaguar,
attend, l’attend,
silencieux,
silencieux, nous
dans la ville, avançant vers,
ce qu’elle sait, qu’elle ne connaît pas,
silencieux, nous arrivons
au devant de
là où il
l’attend, où, le seuil passé, seule elle pénètre,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
une femme-alligator
un homme-colibri
un homme-singe-araignée
une femme-cerf
un homme-boa
une femme-toucan
attablés, me dévisagent,
muets,
s’envisagent, muets, et d’un
seul mouvement, ensemble me
désignent l’escalier, m’enjoignent,
conjoints, de le gravir,
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
marche
après
le palier
la porte
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
entr’ouverte, par l’embrasure m’embrasse l’antre
du maître jaguar, son contre-jour, son revers, son dos,
invisible face face à la fenêtre, ses mains croisées bas,
il regarde et écoute les grognements
du fleuve
dans lequel les siens voltent
face, sa face jaguarienne à nu : entrez
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
s’approchant, elle que
j’attendais, arrivée, enfin, là,
ni hors, ni dans
debout elle se tient
et hésite devant
bustes, socles, mains, troncs, visages, corps moulés, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, boussoles, alidades, bâtons de Jacob, compas, lochs, azafea,
grand duc, hermine, ours brun, raton-laveur, serpents, surricates,
perroquets naturalisés, coquillages, pierres, lépidoptères et araignées
épinglés, pilons, bols, plats, assiettes, cassettes, pierreries, piécettes,
perles, coffres ouverts et fermés, bourses, sachets, sacs d’épices, de
pétales, de poudres, de pigments, herbes cueillies, ligaturées et
suspendues, plantes en pot mauvaises, à chat, vivaces, cultivées,
branches de cerisiers, pommiers, pêchers bourgeonnant brassées de
fleurs multicolores, ternes, poussant, vases à l’eau croupie, ciselés, lisses,
pleins, vides, bouteilles opaques et translucides aux liquides purpurins,
violets, verdâtres, pisseux, ocres, brunâtres, mélassiques, philtres, encres,
pinceaux, plumes,
crânes, os, coquilles d’oeufs, planches anatomique cartes enroulées et celles
déployées océans et cieux, mer de papiers jetés, laissés au sol, armures,
dagues, épées, sabres, pistolets, mousquets, étoffes, laines, fourrures, velours,
soieries, cotonnades, blanches, unies, colorées, aux motifs reprenant tout ce
qui se trouve ici,
à avancer vers,
bascule, mi-ellipse,
gravitaire, au demi-centre
je
me tiens, elle
serpente entre, louvoie,
écarquillés ses yeux dardent vers
moi
s’élance,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
nous,
nous, transportés, l’immédiateté de,
nous qui ne,
nos bouches sur nos bouches sur nos visages sur
nos cous et nos épaules,
renaissant, reconnaissant,
quelque
souvenir afférent à, au, là
aux, à nos corps
nous
embrasserrant
depuis, le temps variant, un nuage,
une ondée, une éclipse,
la nuit le jour,
transportés,
nous transportant, basculant, basculent
les fils, les trames, les
objets
emportés dans notre mouvement, nous
suivant, précédant, accompagnant,
immédiats, nucléaires, éclatant
sur le sol,
nous,
sur le sol, s’enveloppant de
nos, nous,
pulsatiles imprésents,
équationnels montages
jusqu’à
plus, nous
plus
qu’en nous cède
ce qui advient, que nous
nous liquistituons
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
heureuse, très heureuse,
je jaillis je m’écoule et coule et coule et coule, j’imbibe les draps et
me répands sur le plancher, indivisible et divisée, je m’écoule et coule
et coule entre les lames, vers la porte, sous la porte, je me glisse, me faufile,
je cascade, cascade, cascade, je bondis, saute, marche, marche, marche,
éclabousse de marche en marche, je me mêle à la chaux et imbibe le bois,
je cascade et me projette, je jaillis là sur un crâne, là sur l’astrolabe, là sur le
U d’une carte à demi-déroulée, j’imbibe le papier, l’encre se dilue, un lac se
dessine, cascade,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je cascade, de marches en marches, cascade, la cire me repousse, elle me scinde,
gouttelettes, immiscible je goutte, je suinte, je jaillis, je m’écoule,
jaillis, explose, un lac se vide, je suis un lac et une fontaine, indivisible et
divisée, coule, coule, absorbée par les soies, le duvet, la laine, je m’étends,
flaque, au pied de l’escalier, je m’étends, je vibre sous des pas légers, des mains
en conque me recueillent et me portent aux lèvres, je suis lappée, on me boit,
La voix de la chasseuse-cueilleuse la rejoint alors :
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je suis dans leurs gosiers, je suis bue à la source,
je suis sur la langue râpeuse, je descends le long d’oesophages, je
pénètre des estomacs, des artères, des veines, circule dans des sangs,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je bondis, bondis, libérée, jaillis, bondis, je m’étends, je flaque, flaque,
large flaque, je me réunis, suinte, goutte, gouttes dans la flaque, je
coule et suis absorbée, j’imprègne, je déborde, je mouille peau et
poils, j’inonde, les murs me retiennent, je monte, je monte, je jaillis,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
je défèrle, je cascade, je fais peur, on me fuit, je lèche pieds, mains,
meubles, flammes, feu, je grésille, m’évapore, j’éteins, en moi se diluent les
cendres, je flotte, me condense, suinte, retombe en
moi-même, je jaillis, monte, jaillis, cours, je saute, tombe, absorbée,
retenue, j’irrigue des corps, je glisse entre des doigts, je suis bue,
le seuil dont le coeur est la force,
son débit, sa douceur et sa rage
écoutés, tout se noue et s’emporte,
me hèle, dans nos marches les jours passent,
mêlée à la salive, la salive se dilue, je suis crachée, je jaillis, je suis bue,
je recouvre, j’immerge, j’emplis, je déborde, feu d’artifice liquide, je
gargouille, receuillie je bondis dans l’oeil qui m’observe, j’en coule,
j’inonde, je recouvre cuisses, ventre, flancs, seins, gorge de ma source, je taris,
je reflue, ma source s’endort,
Poems
Poems of Anne Kawala
Close
SONG OF THE HUNTRESS GATHERESS
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
© 2017, Kit Schluter
SONG OF THE HUNTRESS GATHERESS
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
nowhere is my country today
i've been banished from the one that,
whose trees have disappeared,
far from here and now,
cedars, birches, baobabs, beeches,
oaks, lindens, cherries, weeping willows,
some evening the earth,
dry and humid, acidic, alkaline,
neutral,
all the trees are
from now on from my country
we go toward, and toward
we don't know what we'll find for ourselves
the days passing in our steps
as the passing forests, plains, mountains and banks
and the beaches, bare and discovered, to be discovered;
at the river's threshold, where a fossilized whale,
its baleen of stone, its granite organ
leaves us fragile on the feet of its sheer face
find, before the night, the vital refuge,
some men and women,
fire,
they insist, and take us back
a wood's edge, then the woods, in the hunting blind
from the woods the noises are immense,
terrifying, bestial, beasts and men, women and chimeras,
barbarians, possible,
possible,
the forest, the undergrowth,
the chiaroscuro, the diagonal mounting
of light and insects,
incantations to, what do I know,
fear rises
from, what do I know; that's what fear is
in the hunting blind
and, those four
protect me,
we walk, and
I, trumpets & songs, invisible, we rise, the light falls,
and from the inert bodies of my companions, their voices, united, over
a single chord, are still, cry and call to me, I
rise up, hear them, disappearing
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I,
in the air, suspended, walk,
like I've never ever walked before
feeling the ground that is not,
any longer, beneath my feet,
I
above the forest
the forest given to my eye, dizziness, dizziness
of the mountains, of the unspooling plains, and
I walk, the stars I touch them
and the moon and
I walk until morning
in the rocky and glistening silence
of the stars
until
until I reach where
we are given back to each other
I am there, in a night,
arrival
arrived,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
in the freezing air, her breath
allows me to see her, the mist and the light,
born in the east, of the sun,
slit it, uncover it,
gaseous and watery,
veil, open, fold, and drape
the elsewhere the nowhere and the unknown.
the mysterious night, where does it come from,
fly off to, powdery, the beaten earth of the path,
it moves ahead, clarifies
its demand, he asks her, asks me to
come find her, come here, where she stays
immobile in movement,
approaches, toward me,
knowing of me that it's me
her hand on my shoulder and her smile,
which comes to find her, to lead her away,
the outer wall surpassed, the city, through,
sleeping, its details craggy
in the frosty morning air,
to the house of who,
of the one who, my master's,
where my old master jaguar,
waits, awaits her,
silently
silently, we
in the city, walk on toward,
what she knows, what she doesn't know,
silently, we arrive
before
where it
awaits him, where, the threshold surpassed, only she goes in,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
an alligator-woman
a hummingbird-man
a spider-monkey-man
a deer-woman
a boa-man
a toucan-woman
sitting at the table, stare me down,
mute
stare each other down, mute, and with a
single movement, together show
me the stairs, order me,
jointly, to climb it,
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
walk
after
the landing
the door
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
ajar, through the doorframe I am embraced
by master jaguar's den, his backlit silhouette, his other side, his back,
invisible face facing the window, his folded hands low,
he watches and listens to the river's
grunting
in which his own spin
around, his naked jaguarian face: come in
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
approaching, the woman
I was waiting for, arrived, at last, there,
neither outside, nor inside
upright she stands
and hesitates before
busts, pedestals, hands, torsos, faces, moulded bodies, astrolabes, sextants,
octants, compasses, alidades, Jacob's staffs, logs, saphaeas,
great horned owl, ermine, brown bear, raccoon, snakes, meerkats,
stuffed parrots, seashells, stones, lepidopterans and arachnids,
pins, pestles, bowls, platters, plates, money boxes, gemstones, little coins,
pearls, open and closed chests, purses, satchels, spice bags,
petals, powders, pigments, herbs gathered, tied, and hung,
potted plants, weeds, catnip, perennials, cultivated plants,
branches of cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees in blossom loaded with
multicolor, colorless, budding flowers, engraved, smooth, full, empty vases
with stagnant water, opaque and translucent bottles with purpurin, violet,
reddish, greenish, piss-yellow, ochre, brownish, syrupy liquids, potions, inks,
paintbrushes, plumes,
skulls, bones, egg shells, anatomic boards rolled up charts and some
unrolled oceans and skies, sea of discarded papers, left on the floor, armor,
daggers, swords, sabers, pistols, muskets, fabrics, wools, furs, velvet,
silks, cottons, white, plain, colorful, with patterns involving everything
that can be found here,
to advance toward,
toppling, mid-ellipse,
gravitational, at the half-center
I
stay, she
snakes between, tacks,
wide open her eyes dart toward
me,
soars up
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
we,
us, transported, the immediacy of,
we who don't,
our mouths on our mouths on our faces on
our necks and our shoulders,
resurgent, recognizant,
some
memory pertaining to, to the, there
to those, to our bodies
hugrasping
each other
from, the weather changing, a cloud,
a shower, an eclipse,
the night the day
transported,
transporting us, toppling, topple
the wires, the threads, the
objects
swept into our movement, accompanying,
immediate, nuclear, exploding
on the ground,
us,
on the ground, wrapping each other with
our, us,
impresent pulsatiles,
equational montages
until
no more, we
no more
that what's happening
gives way to us, that we
liquidismiss ourselves
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
happy, so happy,
I gush I flood and flow and flow and flow, I soak the sheets and
spread myself out on the floor, indivisible and divided, I flood and flow
and flow between the planks, to the door, under the door, I slide, I snake,
I cascade, cascade, cascade, I bound, jump, walk, walk, walk,
splash from stair to stair, I mingle with the lime and soak the wood,
I cascade and launch, I gush there over a skull, over the astrolabe, there over the
U of a half-unrolled map, I soak the paper, the ink runs, a lake is
described, cascades
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I cascade, from stair to stair, cascade, the wax repels me, it splits me,
droplets, immiscible I drip, I seep, I gush, I flow,
gush, explode, a lake empties out, I am a lake and a fountain, indivisible and
divided, flow, flow, absorbed by the sheets, the blanket, the cotton, I spread out,
puddle, at the foot of the stairs, I spread out, I shake under light steps, hands
like a conch gather me and carry me to the lips, I am lapped at, drunk up
The voice of the huntress-gatheress joins them then:
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I am in their throats, I am drunk from the source,
I am on the grating tongue, I go down along the esophagus, I
penetrate stomachs, arteries, veins, circulate through blood
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I bound, bound, free, gush, bound, I spread out, puddle,
wide puddle, I gather together, seep, droplets in the puddle, I
flow and am absorbed, I steep, I overflow, I moisten skin and
hair, I flood, the walls hold me back, I rise, I rise, I gush
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our footsteps,
I crash down, I cascade, I scare, they run from me, I lick feet, hands,
furniture, flames, fire, I sleet, I evaporate, I extinguish, inside me ash
dilutes, I float, I condense, seep, fall back into
myself, I gush, rise, gush, flow, I jump, fall, absorbed,
held back, I irrigate bodies, I slip between fingers, I am drunk,
the threshold whose strength is the heart,
its output, its sweetness and fury
heard, all in knots and taken away,
flags me down, the days passing in our steps,
mixed with saliva, saliva dilutes, I am spit out, I gush, I am drunk up,
I cover up, I submerge, I fill, I overflow, liquid firework, I
gurgle, collected I bound into the eye that observes me, I flow from it,
I flood, I cover thighs, stomach, sides, breasts, throat of my source, I run dry,
I ebb, my source falls asleep,
© 2017, Kit Schluter
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