Stephan Delbos
BAGATELLE FOR GYÖRGY LIGETI, ETERNAL LIGHT & HONEYCOMB
Swim in the swarm
of voices —
the vices of silence
; Lux Aeterna ,
air
colored with tears
not yet
battered by swallowing
ground. Keep
listening::??::??
??:: even flame makes a sound.
Outside among enormous ashes ;;
trees, wind sifts
and microchips in digital
cameras register
the phenomena. This
too is Lux Aeterna.
... ... ... Shut your eyes . —
. —
. — your brain a beehive
honey tastes like blood.
/// /// /// ///
Eternity is another way
to say thank you
but not just yet.
. . Even our organs outlive us,
, if only briefly,
, , and when we really feel
life we say
struck a chord.
So clarify::::::
emotion lives
in our ears and eyes
like oysters harboring, hoarding
pearls. —.—
—.—
Every chapel
echo-chamber
echo-chamber
when we think of silence
we only want
the single sound ? ? ? ? :
? ? ? ? foghorn or the boatman’s call: : :
: :
: :
ACTUALLY
AUSCHWITZ
AFTER POETRY
IS BARBARIC.
§Daring Adorno
Eventually, Middle East
of what, one wonders,
O Copernicus.
§Accidental Occident
paper windows
typewriting rain
light claws tornado
I find myself think
it funny naming storms
§William Bronk
BAGATELLE FOR ANCIENT VALUES, JAW HARP & LYRE
What is worth believing
is impossible
to believe and really only
that is what will save you
someday from insane
pyres of doubt,
sorrow
deprivation.
.
. Ghost notes
don’t know they are
not there
phantom limbs
, irrefutable evidence
of forces injurious
conspiring
to deprive us of ourselves
and one another.
Don’t do this, Odysseus! !
! ! !
screamed the suitors.
The mystery unites us
or shall we-----------------
recognize the microchip
the matchbook
the God particle, catalytic
convertors
snowblowers
sea bream fillet, shucked oysters
instant coffee
windowsill orchids
personal computers, personal space
haemophilia
space heaters
take-out styrofoam, first-class
Grammy nominations
soft drinks, shampoo
plus conditioner
in one dandruff
eczema, flatulence
are not the stuff I assure you myths
are made of.
......
...... ..... There be dragons
What is worth believing
is impossible
to believe and really only
that is what will save you
someday from insane
pyres of doubt,
sorrow
deprivation.
.
. Ghost notes
don’t know they are
not there
phantom limbs
, irrefutable evidence
of forces injurious
conspiring
to deprive us of ourselves
and one another.
Don’t do this, Odysseus! !
! ! !
screamed the suitors.
The mystery unites us
or shall we-----------------
recognize the microchip
the matchbook
the God particle, catalytic
convertors
snowblowers
sea bream fillet, shucked oysters
instant coffee
windowsill orchids
personal computers, personal space
haemophilia
space heaters
take-out styrofoam, first-class
Grammy nominations
soft drinks, shampoo
plus conditioner
in one dandruff
eczema, flatulence
are not the stuff I assure you myths
are made of.
......
...... ..... There be dragons
Copyright © Stephan Delbos 2018
Stephan Delbos lives in Prague. His poetry, essays and translations have appeared internationally. He is the editor of From a Terrace in Prague: A Prague Poetry Anthology (Litteraria Pragensia, 2011). His play “Chetty’s Lullaby,” about trumpeter Chet Baker, has been produced in New York and San Francisco. His co-translation of The Absolute Gravedigger, by Czech poet Vítězslav Nezval, was awarded the PEN/Heim Translation grant in 2015 and was published by Twisted Spoon Press. Deaf Empire, his play about Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, was produced by the Prague Shakespeare Company in 2017. He is the author of the poetry chapbook In Memory of Fire (Cape Cod Poetry Review, 2016), and a founding editor of B O D Y . Some of his work appeared in Molly Bloom 6.