.
All this talk of transcendence
aside
isn't it true that
as utilitarian commodity
aside
isn't it true that
as utilitarian commodity
poetry provides
a kind of colourful
billboard behind
which the actual
existential
landscape, with its dry
arroyos of misery
and its pocket
canyons of
distraction, remains
so carefully
hidden?
Paintings by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938)
Street scene at night, n.d.
Marcella, 1910 (Brücke Museum, Berlin)
Seated girl, 1910
Self-portrait as a patient, 1918 (Pinakothek der Moderne, München)
The Amselfluh, n.d.
10 comments:
amen.
"so carefully" indeed.
Whose poetry is he talking about? Celan?
Thee Amselfluh, n.d....colores maravillosos...hermosísimo!!
Possibly. Sometimes it seems that way. Then I'm back with the Kirschners (I'd forgotten how much I love his work) and the poetry and the possibilities of transcendence.
Sorry if this one seemed a bit of a nonsequitur. It was meant to be the bottom piece in a set of four. Scrolling up and down are opposite ways to scroll. Who knows what comes first or last.
The rest of the set is here:
Enclosure
Corona
Thrall
The whole set is an attempt to capture the mood of the Kirchner paintings.
There is an "Expressionist Period" history in the texts.
Earlier versions (much earlier, c. 1980) had a trace of Berlin Alexanderplatz in them.
Döblin's period is Kirchner's period.
Transcendence is where you find it and probably in the eye of the beholder.
Tom,
Yes, "poetry . . . a kind of colourful billboard behind which the actual . . . remains so carefully hidden." Things in Heidegger's Parmenides resonate with this, as for instance (possibly) here -- "The light . . . first bestows the possibility of the look and therewith the possibility of the encountering look as well as the grasping look. Looking is an act of seeing. Seeing is a power of the eye. . . ."
So, I'll spend part of Sunday re-reading these as a set with this at the bottom. I know I'll enjoy that. One thing I (hesitantly) suggest for anyone who might be interested (obviously I'm thinking of Stephen's comment) is setting up a Parmenides Google News Alert. Funny things sometimes wash up on that shore. I believe you captured the mood of the Kirchner paintings extremely well. I can't tell you how much I admire and appreciate that.
it's true
and
behind that actual existential lanscape
again
there's something hidden:
a very short poem
do you know that, Tom?
Yes to a very short poem, double yes to a Parmenides Google News Alert comprised of a series of very short poems.
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