{"id":9027,"date":"2012-08-01T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T09:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=9027"},"modified":"2012-08-11T11:22:11","modified_gmt":"2012-08-11T09:22:11","slug":"from-the-longer-sequence-asia-planetary-rhythm-marriages-a-graph-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=9027","title":{"rendered":"From the longer sequence \u201cASIA. PLANETARY RHYTHM MARRIAGES \u2013 a graph poem\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

[from the MARGENTO<\/em> collection forthcoming from Casa de Editur\u0103 Max Blecher]<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Margento
\n 
\nclick<\/a> pentru versiunea rom\u00e2n\u0103\n<\/p>\n

 
\n <\/p>\n

The Euro-Gate<\/em><\/p>\n

MARGENTO<\/p>\n

Hungry Hell \u2013 Romania 1948<\/strong><\/p>\n

after Randall Jarrell<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Out of little Paris, as if waking from a dream, into the slammer<\/p>\n

an empty belly and enigma cell: tomorrow\u2026<\/p>\n

How long shall I survive, how much room for miracles on a map,<\/p>\n

stigma of blood and shit on the wall\u2026<\/p>\n

Still they washed me out of the cell with a hose and fed me to the hounds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Amero-Gate<\/em><\/p>\n

Gwendolyn Brooks<\/p>\n

We Real Cool<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE POOL PLAYERS.
\nSEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We real cool. We
\nLeft school. We<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lurk late. We
\nStrike straight. We<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sing sin. We
\nThin gin. We<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jazz June. We
\nDie soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Afro-Gate<\/em><\/p>\n

MARGENTO<\/p>\n

The Mau Mau Head<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was a Mau Mau head<\/p>\n

or Uma Uma with an ivory forehead<\/p>\n

in the year when Brooks wrote<\/p>\n

the poem in the beans<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                        eaters. It was growing in a Kikuyu<\/p>\n

                        woman\u2019s womb when a rusty key<\/p>\n

                        pushed by a brave Mau Mau pierced her<\/p>\n

                        in the massacre of the sacred independence<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

from the British Empire.<\/p>\n

The Anglos let them kill<\/p>\n

each other and then grabbed<\/p>\n

the baby\u2019s ivory head<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                        and carved a Churchill bust out of it.<\/p>\n

                        Little; quaint; like a clump<\/p>\n

                        of barbed wire pushed up<\/p>\n

                        the Moldovan prisoners\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

asses by the Transnistrian sep-<\/p>\n

aratchiks screaming: Here is Ro<\/p>\n

mania for you, the whole of it\u2026 a high-wire<\/p>\n

act of diplomacy rolling<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                        through intestine feuds<\/p>\n

                        and side-shows a drunk leader\u2019s dream<\/p>\n

                        wrapped up in ivory, corn, and oil<\/p>\n

                        slowly making it into the Oval Office\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Obama, fifty years after the grain<\/p>\n

of snooker and death in Brooks\u2019<\/p>\n

book gets carried away by a wave<\/p>\n

of memories\u2026 His grandpa beaten up<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                        by the Brits in that Kenyan prison\u2026<\/p>\n

                        and looks at the bust and it gets on<\/p>\n

                        his nerves and he checks out the head<\/p>\n

                        can\u2019t get the head out of his head temples<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

beating like Khrushtchev\u2019s shoe on the UN table<\/p>\n

like a German boot and a Russian boot<\/p>\n

playing hopscotch over Poland\u2026<\/p>\n

he grabs it and pitches it like a baseball<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                        all the way back to the palace in London.<\/p>\n

                        But the globe stops shining up in the sky,<\/p>\n

                        a fetus revived in the light\u2019s body,<\/p>\n

                        Kikuyu mama\u2019s womb, mother of the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE AUSTRO-GATE<\/em><\/p>\n

Glenn Colquhoun (Aotearoa\/ New Zealand)<\/p>\n

When I Am in Doubt<\/strong><\/p>\n

a poem for surgeons<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I am in doubt I talk to surgeons.<\/p>\n

I know that they will know what to do.<\/p>\n

They seem so sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once I talked to a surgeon.<\/p>\n

He said that when he is in doubt<\/p>\n

He talks to priests.<\/p>\n

Priests will know what to do.<\/p>\n

Priests seem so sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once I talked to a priest.<\/p>\n

He said that when he is in doubt<\/p>\n

He talks to God.<\/p>\n

God will know what to do.<\/p>\n

God seems so sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once I talked to God.<\/p>\n

He said that when he is in doubt<\/p>\n

he thinks of me.<\/p>\n

He says I will know what to do.<\/p>\n

I seem so sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UVERTURES<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the season, this the day, the hour;\/ At sunrise thou shouldst come…<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MARGENTO – Riffing with Elizabeth Bishop: Old Nova Scotia Sound in New Mui Ne<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

as I walk my feet sink in the red ground
\n                                Down at the water’s edge, at the place<\/em>
\n                                \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 where they haul up the boats, up the long ramp<\/em><\/p>\n

taking in the colorful tombs<\/p>\n

scattered on the sliding dune
\n                                descending into the water, thin silver<\/em>
\n                                tree trunks are laid horizontally<\/em><\/p>\n

with Zen swastikas carved into stone and
\n                                across the gray stones, down and down <\/em>
\n                                at intervals of four or five feet.<\/em>
\nthe sea blinking at the deserted place.<\/p>\n

Without my getting to look into the distance<\/p>\n

                                Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,<\/em><\/p>\n

at the waves, corals start to wake<\/p>\n

up in my ankles waving with poisoned fish in the<\/p>\n

                                element bearable to no mortal,<\/em><\/p>\n

                                to fish and to seals . . .<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MARGENTO<\/p>\n

Biker in Saigon<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What? Can\u2019t do that<\/p>\n

anymore? Ooo, to carry it all, my memories<\/p>\n

and quandaries, the family<\/p>\n

riding piggyback, still stuck… until it says \u201cgo!\u201d and I cut<\/p>\n

corners like the Americans who used to reap<\/p>\n

Vietnamese women\u2019s breasts in the past?…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How to wait\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0 at the lights<\/p>\n

in a hive\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 full\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of hum<\/p>\n

 \u00a0        just for show?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and with no food<\/p>\n

 \u00a0         \u00a0        for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the multitudes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 moto<\/p>\n

 \u00a0        R\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0 cycle\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0  \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0 in line \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 net<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 wORks \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0 of roads\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and stuck<\/p>\n

shaking at<\/p>\n

idle like a turtle crushed under<\/p>\n

the weight of a centuries-old elephant in the swamps?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When, now, when is it going to end? The mound, the moon, one<\/p>\n

ivory yellow light-bulb on one sema<\/p>\n

phore blind and dangling holding me<\/p>\n

waiting, painfully flickering like a stoma<\/p>\n

ch\u2026 rumbling, empty wind<\/p>\n

falls from the killed ones everything that was<\/p>\n

left for us out of what<\/p>\n

just wouldn\u2019t and wouldn\u2019t turn green.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

L\u00fd \u0110\u1ee3i<\/p>\n

Who Do You Take Me For?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mourning covered all walls [including the \u201cconcrete drilling & cutting\u201d ad stamps]<\/p>\n

Ignominy occupied the city once thought of as a pearl [actually a piece of shit]<\/p>\n

On 47th<\/sup> Alley<\/p>\n

leaders, servants cried plaintively<\/p>\n

young men and women, even middle-aged and weakly old-aged people are in ruins<\/p>\n

all females lost their beauty<\/p>\n

and males no longer had their handsomeness<\/p>\n

and their brains were flat and smooth and full of detergents\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

in those ranges of houses\u2026<\/p>\n

the bridegroom and all the beards raised their voices in an elegy<\/p>\n

the bride and all the beauty girls lamented in their boudoirs<\/p>\n

the earth was on the point of collapsing [because of the ignorant living on it]<\/p>\n

the sky was on the point of falling [because of the insensitive contained in it]<\/p>\n

all the family and friends of DoiLi were deeply in shame\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

this place is an ambush for poetry<\/p>\n

a cruel enemy of life, and a vile reptile against humankind\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

we shed our blood<\/p>\n

we bit our tongues, blocked up our assholes, and wrenched our own necks\u2026<\/p>\n

while those cowards fled upon hearing the bad news<\/p>\n

the city became the station for invading foreigners<\/p>\n

our children were assaulted, raped, and abused<\/p>\n

our ancestors\u2019 tombs were upturned<\/p>\n

our poetry was used as toilet paper sheets\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

oh, people of the city imagining itself a pearl<\/p>\n

the more glorious in the past, the more ignominious now<\/p>\n

noble in the past, lowly now\u2026<\/p>\n

who do you think you are<\/p>\n

what do you expect<\/p>\n

as clammed up as an oyster \u2013 why are you so mute?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

as for me, a most ignominious citizen<\/p>\n

An alcoholic saint in disease<\/p>\n

A whimsical guy sitting on 47th<\/sup> Alley and philosophizing on drilling & cutting concrete<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and dreaming of holes, and changes<\/p>\n

And writing a poem in coupled couplets [in moth-eaten<\/p>\n

language] on those things [believed by the<\/p>\n

inhabitants here] to be so obvious!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I thought that this might end here but I must add:<\/p>\n

that you bastards are so thoughtless<\/p>\n

Who do you take me for?<\/p>\n

I am vomiting over my own face and conscience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(L\u00fd \u0110\u1ee3i \u201cWho Do You Take Me For?\u201d translated from the Vietnamese by Alec Schachner, Nguy\u1ec5n Ti\u1ebfn V\u0103n, and Chris Tanasescu)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[from the MARGENTO collection forthcoming from Casa de Editur\u0103 Max Blecher] by Margento   click pentru versiunea rom\u00e2n\u0103     The Euro-Gate MARGENTO Hungry Hell \u2013 Romania 1948 after Randall Jarrell     Out of little Paris, as if waking from a dream, into the slammer an empty belly and enigma cell: tomorrow\u2026 How long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[925,77],"tags":[100,1160,1123,935],"class_list":["post-9027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egophobia-35","category-english","tag-chris-tanasescu","tag-egophobia-35","tag-english","tag-margento"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DakB-2lB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9027"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9032,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9027\/revisions\/9032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}