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Poem

Arno Van Vlierberghe

THE SITUATION 1

2016_12_27_16_29 — The outstretched hand — The non-world — Liberal nostalgia

2016_12_27_16_29. Finally, having arrived at the crossroads, we could see The Situation materialising. The political, economic, cultural, social situation. The nice houses emptied. The conference rooms, too. The cinemas. The party headquarters. The temples. This is the current time of writing. This is what we have to work with. This is, in brief, The Situation. It is at this moment – this one, indivisible moment – that I feel truly at home, a paid-up member of the most beautiful non-world that today has to offer. One with the indefatigable God-and-Fatherland voices. I.M., your outstretched hand is not mine. What is The Situation? Not factions but transactions. My brain now a stock market, a transfer zone where little becomes nothing. My work, my home, my nest. The organisation around me swells, contracts, encloses me like an amniotic sac where growth is still permitted. All around me the waste of the past century. A bundle of energy, alone in a space. What is The Situation? The poem as dialogue, an Arno that doesn’t want to talk.

De situatie 1

De situatie 1

2016_12_27_16_29 — De uitgestrekte hand — De niet-wereld — Liberal nostalgia

2016_12_27_16_29. Tot slot, aan het kruispunt gekomen, zagen we De Situatie samenkomen. De politieke, economische, culturele, sociale situatie. De mooie huizen leeggehaald. De vergaderzalen ook. De bioscopen. De partijlokalen. De tempels. In deze tijd verschijnt deze tekst. Dit is ons werkbaar materiaal. Kortweg, De Situatie. Dit ogenblik, dit ene ondeelbare ogenblik voel ik me werkelijk thuis, ingeschreven in de mooiste niet-wereld van nu. Een met de nooit vermoeide God-en-vaderland-stemmen. I.M., jouw uitgestrekte hand is de mijne niet. Wat is De Situatie? Geen relaties, maar transacties. Nu ook mijn hersenen een beurs, een transferzone van weinig tot niets. Mijn werk, mijn thuis, mijn nest. De organisatie rondom me, zwelt aan, trekt dicht, klapt toe als een vruchtzak waarin een ik nog groeien mag. Rondom mij het restafval van de vorige eeuw. Een hyperpersoon, alleen in een ruimte. Wat is De Situatie? Het gedicht als dialoog, maar een Arno wil niet praten.
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THE SITUATION 1

2016_12_27_16_29 — The outstretched hand — The non-world — Liberal nostalgia

2016_12_27_16_29. Finally, having arrived at the crossroads, we could see The Situation materialising. The political, economic, cultural, social situation. The nice houses emptied. The conference rooms, too. The cinemas. The party headquarters. The temples. This is the current time of writing. This is what we have to work with. This is, in brief, The Situation. It is at this moment – this one, indivisible moment – that I feel truly at home, a paid-up member of the most beautiful non-world that today has to offer. One with the indefatigable God-and-Fatherland voices. I.M., your outstretched hand is not mine. What is The Situation? Not factions but transactions. My brain now a stock market, a transfer zone where little becomes nothing. My work, my home, my nest. The organisation around me swells, contracts, encloses me like an amniotic sac where growth is still permitted. All around me the waste of the past century. A bundle of energy, alone in a space. What is The Situation? The poem as dialogue, an Arno that doesn’t want to talk.

THE SITUATION 1

2016_12_27_16_29 — The outstretched hand — The non-world — Liberal nostalgia

2016_12_27_16_29. Finally, having arrived at the crossroads, we could see The Situation materialising. The political, economic, cultural, social situation. The nice houses emptied. The conference rooms, too. The cinemas. The party headquarters. The temples. This is the current time of writing. This is what we have to work with. This is, in brief, The Situation. It is at this moment – this one, indivisible moment – that I feel truly at home, a paid-up member of the most beautiful non-world that today has to offer. One with the indefatigable God-and-Fatherland voices. I.M., your outstretched hand is not mine. What is The Situation? Not factions but transactions. My brain now a stock market, a transfer zone where little becomes nothing. My work, my home, my nest. The organisation around me swells, contracts, encloses me like an amniotic sac where growth is still permitted. All around me the waste of the past century. A bundle of energy, alone in a space. What is The Situation? The poem as dialogue, an Arno that doesn’t want to talk.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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