kamiel79

Person of color

A person of color walks into a bar he gets seated on a prominent stool and whispers "triple scotch please" the bartender, who since the unfortunate event two weeks ago, is a person of color too, says right away sir and pours his drink and Nina sings Nina Simone was a person of color, too. ...

Belasting

Met de fiscus heb ik een relatie die door avontuurlijke theologen interessant genoemd zou kunnen worden. Ziet u: ik betaal graag belasting. Duizend euro meer op een jaar is voor mij geen enkel probleem, mits de mij toegezonden documentatie een bijsluiter bevat in normale grotemensentaal die uitlegt "waar ik aan toe ben." De communicatie met ...

Reading: Kinaxixi by Augostinho Neto

Today, I wanted to read a poem by Hugo von Hofmannthal or Wisława Szymborska, but I couldn't find (the time to make) a good translation of the German genius and I'm not fond of the Polish Nobel Prize winner. So I read a poet by former Angolan president Augustinho Neto (1922-1979) instead. Here it is, in ...

Reading: Enigma with Flower by Pablo Neruda

The great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973, born as Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) deserves a place in our anthology as well. I browsed his poetry and found this item, 'Enigma with Flower' suitable for today's short reading. Victory. It has come late, I had not learnt how to arrive, like the lily, at will, the white figure, that pierces ...

EIFFEL TOWER

In Vegas and Macau they have fake Eiffel towers. Smaller of course than the original in Paris. They are there to invoke Paris. The Eiffel tower is 324 meters high I learned that number in school. One day someone will build a taller one in Shanghai or Dubai or Doha or such place Years will amplify ...

“As a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened” ― Kazuo Ishiguro

You and Me

Would you come over and steal everything? that would be great. There are enough words but there must be light I cannot usurp alone all the words who write. Come stealthily, come at night I'll leave some papers on my desk take all you need and run with it Use them up! You are not ...

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life — Terry Pratchett

Reading: L’Orangerie by Yves Bonnefoy

The French poet Yves Bonnefoy (1923-2016) published major collections of poetry throughout his livetime. He lived, and died, in Paris in 2016. Today, I read a poem headed 'L'Orangerie'. I didn't like the English translation by Galway Kinnell so I have improved it. As usual, here's the poem: THE ORANGERY Thus we walk on the ruins ...