Sleeping Food

As a continuation of exploring counter-point/juxtapostion in poetry to create a kind of dialogue in the reader’s mind, these are experiments to find out whether a title – or what presents itself as a title typographically – could function as a first line in a poem. Normally we read the title as a more or less comprehensive catch-phrase of what the text below it will reveal, but in this case the following phrase/poem will be in juxtaposition to what the title proposes. The basic presumption is that “the space” between the two parts creates a room for the reader to enter. I hope it works.

MENTALLY AN OVERRIPE PLUM

suck
shoe
suck

.

SHE DOESN’T LIFT HER FEET

blackshirts taken

.

I’M SURE THE BEACH WON’T MIND

your eye’s a bridge swelling

.

CACOPHONY

easel

.

IT’S MY BRAIN IN YOUR NUTSHELL

one stone four falling with the sparrows

.

TIME SITS ON A BLUE 3-LEGGED STOOL

always she’s closer

.

IT’S A KIND OF MECHANICAL SLEEP

an omelet enters a now

.

ALL THOSE YELLOW HOUSES

someone else
with a parrot

.

MORNING DROP

bird black bird

.

I MEANT TO POST A CRYING EMOJI BUT IT CAME OUT A GOLFER

all that beach and no gulls

.

FOREIGN

[music]

in hand

.

DID SHE JUST SING THE WORD UMLAUT?

sausage cloud

.

RE SISTING

laces

.

YOU NEVER KNOW THIS TIME

mind gravel

.

PEAR

take this this

.

OH, HE MISSED!

a
finger
left
in
silence

.

FOOTPRINTS

but if the waters won’t

.

INTUITED TOMATO

the spellchecker doesn’t believe in Attenborough

.

EMPTY BUT FOR HATS

sleeping food

La Peñuela

in
La Peñuela
in 1591

every
flame

had
a drop
of water

inside

and

every
drop
of water

had
a flame

inside

i
La Peñuela
i 1591

havde
enhver
flamme

en dråbe
vand

indeni

og

enhver
dråbe
vand

havde
en flamme

indeni

insp. by St. John of the Cross

phrase fragment/sætningsfragmenter

bits of other people’s phone conversations in public
stykker af andre menneskers telefonsamtaler i det offentlige rum
.

“It’s too hot for rice pudding. Here’s the key”

“det er for varmt til risengrød. Her er nøglen”

.

“I said: I have never said that! Not D cups. TEA cups”

“Jeg sagde: dét har jeg aldrig sagt! Ikke D skåle. TEskåle”

.

“I don’t know. It feels different with people in it”

“Jeg véd ikke rigtigt. Den føles anderledes når der er mennesker i den”

.

“it’s like he never saw stucco before. No, Mark. Not Alex. He definitely has seen stucco”

“det’ som om han aldrig har set stuk før. Nej, Mark. Ikke Alex. Han har helt sikkert set stuk”

.

“no, that vase looks like a skull over there”

“nej, dén vase ligner et kranie derovre”

.

“Back in the day when people came into the house they were not offered a coffee, they were also offered a coffee. And a cigarette. Typical for Portugal”

“Dengang fik folk, når de kom på besøg, ikke tilbudt en kop kaffe, de blev også tilbudt en kop kaffe. Og en cigaret. Typisk for Portugal”
.

“no, not a banana. […] No, I said!”

“nej, ikke en banan. […] Nej, sagde jeg!”

.

“and then we have flowers and pictures of flowers. (Waving an index finger) No, that’s private”

“og så har vi blomster og billeder af blomster. (Vifter med en pegefinger) . Nej, det er privat”

.
““take this and eat” it is really quite sufficient”

“”tag dette og spis det” er i virkeligheden tilstrækkeligt”

.

“no, I never stop. I’m not like that”

“nej, jeg stopper aldrig. Sådan er jeg ikke”

.

“Oh, you don’t shave so you don’t need this”

“Åh, du barberer dig ikke. Så har du ikke brug for dette”

.

“Ah, but now I can say I have touched it as well”

“Ah, men nu kan jeg sige, at jeg også har rørt ved det”

.

“wow, this is not even written in French!”

“wow, det her er ikke engang skrevet på fransk!”

.

“you’re breaking up [taps w nails on the phone] can you hear me?”

“du falder ud [banker med neglene på telefonen] kan du høre mig?”

.

“no, I don’t want to go out, I’ve been out of it all day”

“nej, jeg har ikke lyst til at gå ud. Jeg har været ude af mig selv hele dagen”

19.06 2024

a man stops on his bike
and stares intensely at some windows
two storeys up
on the other side of the street
for a long time

and I make up
my own story about
what’s going on:

perhaps he once knew
a woman who lived there
one he lost contact to
one who was struck
by mental illness
or simply evaporated
as people do
these days

and I wrote this poem
about it

not including the green grocer
carrying cucumbers
and iceberg salad

as people do

these days

.

en mand stopper på sin cykel
og stirrer intenst på nogle vinduer
på anden sal
på den anden side af gaden
i lang tid

og jeg laver
min egen historie
om det:

måske kendte han engang
en kvinde der boede der
én han mistede kontakten til
én som blev ramt
af psykisk sygdom
eller blot fordampede
som folk gør
for tiden

og jeg skrev dette digt
om det

uden at nævne grønthandleren
der bar på agurker
og iceberg salat

som folk gør

for tiden

poems

As a continuation of exploring counter-point/juxtapostion in poetry to create a kind of dialogue in the reader’s mind, these are experiments to find out whether a title – or what presents itself as a title typographically – could function as a first line in a poem. Normally we read the title as a more or less comprehensive catch-phrase of what the text below it will reveal, but in this case the following phrase/poem will be in juxtaposition to what the title proposes. The basic presumption is that “the space” between the two parts creates a room for the reader to enter. I hope it works.

…*…

THE LONGEST DAY EVER RECORDED
when you turn your head the pain subsides

.

DEN LÆNGSTE DAG DER NOGENSINDE ER MÅLT

når du drejer hovedet aftager smerten

:

THE DENTIST ISN’T IN TODAY

I’ve only seen the Eiffel Tower

.

TANDLÆGEN ER HER IKKE I DAG

jeg har kun set Eiffeltårnet

:

FRIDAY

have you noticed the nails are bleeding?

.

FREDAG

har Du lagt mærke til at sømmene bløder?

:

YOU LOOK AT THE COBWEB IN THE CEILING AND SIGH

it’s no use
the pizza
sleeps

DU SER PÅ SPINDELVÆVET I LOFTET OG SUKKER

det nytter ikke noget
pizzaen
sover

:

ELEGY

she always tries to smile backwards

.

ELEGI

hun prøver altid at smile baglæns

:

NOT YOU, YOU CAN’T SHUT UP

every drop
’s full
of rain

.

IKKE DIG, DU KAN IKKE HOLDE KÆFT

enhver dråbe
r fuld
af regn

monostich

like my father and mother I have the sky above me

som min far og mor har jeg himlen over mig

.

today the rain doesn’t care if you’re a hipster or a beggar

i dag er regnen ligeglad med om du er hipster eller tigger

.

arrogantly I think the cornflower in me is my own doing

arrogant tænker jeg at kornblomsten i mig er én jeg har groet selv

.

stay out long enough and the wind will take your place

vær ude længe nok og vinden vil tage din plads

.

I didn’t stop the sunlight from crawling across the table

jeg forhindrede ikke sollyset i at kravle over bordet

.

sometimes an apple sleeps

nogle gange sover et æble

.

do they talk when they cannot paint?

snakker de når de ikke kan male?

.

someone’s tearing up the street

en eller anden river gaden op

.

looks like he’s proud of his jackhammer

ser ud til at han er stolt af sit trykluftbor

.

four lighters on the table and spring has begun

fire lightere på bordet og foråret er begyndt

.

time doesn’t stop when you change the date

tiden står ikke stille når du retter på datoen