Saturday 28 March 2020

Erik Knudsen, Udvalgte digte, s. 73

Albrecht Dürer: Melancholia

      16        3        2      13
        5      10      11        8
        9        6        7      12
        4      15      14        1

Count up, count down! crisscross as well –
The same result. Always
The same result.
                  Many roads ... all of them lead to
The same result. The world is a number.

Many roads.
                  I have tried all of them.
Knocked on heaven’s door with hammers of diamond,
Analysed the spectrum of metals,
                  measured with light years and sandglasses.
Checked out the rainbow with dividers,
The comet that plunged into the sea I saw in a telescope,
With set square and ruler I have solved the mystery of the crystal.

Count up, write down!
The same result. Always
The same result.

Atoms, molecules,
                  all oscillate round the same number.

The clock above my head chimes.
                  Time is a number.

And here I sit, heavy, with tired wings.
Everything I have bored through, seen through,
Everything can be reduced to one number.
Only my own life
                  am I unable to understand.
Only my own pain
                  am I unable to reduce.

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