Some vomit with ease
Some put it away
Where it hurts
Love washes the body clean of perfection
The blood runs off gently
As on all slaughterers’ knives
When an island sinks
A doubt is left in the line of the horizon
Daylong while we are out our house is inhabited by a profound silence
At 4 a.m. someone blows twice
Into a small plastic trumpet
THE EYE OF THE FLY SEES EVERYTHING
BUT WITHOUT MAKING OUT
WHO IS SPEAKING
WHO IS ANSWERING
AND WHO IS PER CHANCE THE LOSER
Starting with the basement
We shall leave this place
Chamber
By chamber
Til we arrive at the roof
Where the anti-aircraft cannons stand
Everything in the world must die
And if we live on afterwards
For instance in heaven
Blank line
I bet it’ll be raining
And
Blank line
They’ll be standing in the rain
Eating ice cream
THE EYE OF THE FLY SEES EVERYTHING
At the window of the University Psychiatric Hospital
One red geranium
Just after blooming
Suddenly wilts with a thud
(Fade Out)
All the supermarket walls are covered with mirrors
In which appear
Milk
That’s burning
A flea’s rapacious mandibles
And
A
Single
“Henceforth there will be
No other love”
Hello
Little monk
Welcome to the world
It would be a mistake to try to define this piece of writing’s purpose
Peep peep
One must smile at Possibilities
Wake up in bad very bad company
[Notes: Sources: Pierre Joris, “Fin-de-Siècle Identikit”, in Rothenberg/Joris; Nathalie Stephens, “Scatalogue”, in Je Nathanaël, as found at ars poetica, 11 Jun 07; Berysh Vanyshtyn, “Hides”, in Harshav/Harshav; Vasco Pereira da Costa, “Atlantis” (tr. Borges), in Borges; Jean Paul Guibbert, “Order” (tr. Graham Dunstan Martin), in Anthology of Contemporary French Poetry (ed. Martin); Novica Tadic, “Toy, Dream” (tr. Charles Simic), in Simic; Pavlina Pampoudi, “The Eye of the Fly” (tr. Nanos Valaoritis), in Valaoritis/Maskaleris; Sa’di Yusuf, “Departure of ‘82” (trs. Lena Jayyusi and Naomi Shihab Nye), in Jayyusi; Matthias Göritz, “For Volodya in Moscow” (tr. Michael Hoffman), in Hoffman; Hwang Jiwoo, “Variety Show, 1984” (trs. Scott Swaner and Young-Jun Lee), in McCann; Paolo Volponi, “A Glimpse of the Parallel Year” (tr. Bradley Dick), in Ballerini/Cavatorta/Coda/Vangelisti; Bronislaw Maj, “This city died. Blue streetcars moan …”, (trs. Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh), in Spoiling Cannibals’ Fun: Polish Poetry of the Last Two Decades of Communist Rule (eds. Baranczak/Cavanagh); Patricia Y Ikeda, “Night Light”, in Premonitions: The Kaya Anthology of New Asian North American Poetry (ed. Lew); Ernesto Priego, “Breaking Down: Some Fragments on Postmodern American Culture” (paper sent to JBR, 11 June 07); Riina Katajavuori, “The critics, whose strong suit is oblivion” and “Long for the Diamond Merchant’s store” (tr. Anselm Hollo), in Five From Finland (ed. Hollo). Supersized]
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