Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Carmien Michels

Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident

A nipple in my ear
just 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

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 oor
net 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



Close

Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident

A nipple in my ear
just 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

Carmien (‘kα:maȋn) n. song or poem that comes about by accident

A nipple in my ear
just 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
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
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