A section on the concept of 'necessity' from the collection 'In Nomine' by the Danish poet Klaus Høeck

like the snowstorm from

the north east like a thighbone

like osidian

such is necessi

ty i here pay homage to

i of all people

who wrote such great po

ems in praise of freedom for

tified with rubies

like ‘das wohltemper

ierte klavier’ such

is necessity

prelude and fugue one

more time and yet again mar

vellous E major

like a samurai

sword the keenest of the all

keys connected with mer

cy in both physi

cal and metaphysical

sense connected with

infallibili

ty and swans that shed their plum

age in fairytales

necessity is

what i want to write about

there’s no more time for

any digressions

of lapis lazuli my

days are fading a

way like smoke my joints

are on fire i must get in

to what is essen

tial i must get in

to G major’s inexor

able sun topaz

necessity is

not the same as the ruby

glass of causali

ty but what the dif

ference consists of i have

no idea whatso

ever it is not

a modus ponens either

or a japanese

stone lamp outside in

the snowshowers – you are my ne

cessity my love

necessity is

as death is completely just

no one escapes – no

one – were you to change

into a bird were you to

offer your belo

ved in exchange no

no cameraderie here

no preferential

treatment here necess

ity is as incorrup

tible as borax

there is nothing small

about necessity or

dehydrated i

do not believe eith

er it has been embellished

with mother of pearl

or rectified in

polish vodka like poe

try it reminds one

more of a slaughter

house than of a petit four

confectioner’s shop

i think that necess

ity must taste of rust and

of wood sorrel but

i know that it is

larger than saturn and vi

olet that it still

exists even though

you shut your eyes and pretend

that it is not so

necessity is

pure and consecrated to

death like youth itself

like C major like

the syllables in a hai

ku like my own name

such is necessi

ty – don’t try to talk to me

about the little

spasm that is called free

dom the little phobia

of self-glorifi

cation that is called

freedom like death itself such

is necessity

For the whole book, available electronically from the Royal Library in Copenhagen, go to here