Poem
Carmien Michels
Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident
A nipple in my earjust after the big bang
I heard my mother whisper
soothingly
that I was a sweet poem
Young creatures
fit any mould
at drama school I learned to play Ping-Pong
with Dora’s Ps
Pain
Pleasure
Personality
Perversion
Poetry
Picked what I expected they expected
the metier of self-pity
Always thought I was a misprint
better to have stayed in the womb
until I stopped laughing and started missing myself
Broken dikes, on the verge of bursting
I crept back into my birth book again
by now a competent reader of lips
thanks to years of collisions with unnamed mistresses
their nipples in my ear
There I re-read my mother’s fateful whisper
poetry abandoned
soothingly
saying I was a sweetie pie
© Translation: 2017, Carmien Michels
\'Dora\' also refers to a famous actress and drama teacher in Flanders
Carmien\' v. (-en) lied of gedicht dat per vergissing ontstaat
Carmien\' v. (-en) lied of gedicht dat per vergissing ontstaat
Met een tepel in mijn oornet na de big bang
hoorde ik mijn moeder fluisteren
liefkozend
dat ik een vrolijk gedicht was
In eender welke mal past
een jong dier
op de dramaschool leerde ik pingpongen
met de P's van Dora
Pijn
Plezier
Persoonlijkheid
Perversie
Poëzie
Koos voor wat ik verwachtte dat ze verwachtten
het metier van het zelfmedelijden
Altijd gedacht dat ik een drukfout was
beter in de baarmoeder gebleven
tot ik stopte met lachen en mezelf miste
Potten gebroken de scherven nabij
sloop ik opnieuw mijn geboorteboek binnen
inmiddels volleerd liplezer
dankzij jarenlange aanvaringen in mijn oor
met anonieme minnaressen
Daar herlas ik mijn moeders fatale gefluister
de poëzie ongerept
liefkozend
dat ik een olijk gezicht had
© 2017, Carmien Michels
From: We komen van ver
Publisher: Polis, Antwerpen
\'Dora\' refereert ook aan Dora Van der Groen, een beroemde actrice en dramadocente in Vlaanderen
From: We komen van ver
Publisher: Polis, Antwerpen
Poems
Poems of Carmien Michels
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Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident
A nipple in my earjust after the big bang
I heard my mother whisper
soothingly
that I was a sweet poem
Young creatures
fit any mould
at drama school I learned to play Ping-Pong
with Dora’s Ps
Pain
Pleasure
Personality
Perversion
Poetry
Picked what I expected they expected
the metier of self-pity
Always thought I was a misprint
better to have stayed in the womb
until I stopped laughing and started missing myself
Broken dikes, on the verge of bursting
I crept back into my birth book again
by now a competent reader of lips
thanks to years of collisions with unnamed mistresses
their nipples in my ear
There I re-read my mother’s fateful whisper
poetry abandoned
soothingly
saying I was a sweetie pie
© 2017, Carmien Michels
From: We komen van ver
\'Dora\' also refers to a famous actress and drama teacher in Flanders
From: We komen van ver
Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident
A nipple in my earjust after the big bang
I heard my mother whisper
soothingly
that I was a sweet poem
Young creatures
fit any mould
at drama school I learned to play Ping-Pong
with Dora’s Ps
Pain
Pleasure
Personality
Perversion
Poetry
Picked what I expected they expected
the metier of self-pity
Always thought I was a misprint
better to have stayed in the womb
until I stopped laughing and started missing myself
Broken dikes, on the verge of bursting
I crept back into my birth book again
by now a competent reader of lips
thanks to years of collisions with unnamed mistresses
their nipples in my ear
There I re-read my mother’s fateful whisper
poetry abandoned
soothingly
saying I was a sweetie pie
© 2017, Carmien Michels
\'Dora\' also refers to a famous actress and drama teacher in Flanders
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