Wednesday, 25 November 2020

Pia Juul: Poem from 'AVUNCULAR onkelagtige tekster' (2014)


The first time I saw a mouse

I was a child and shouted: ‘A rat!’

All the women screamed, my

uncle’s new lady-friend jumped up on a chair

and my father came with a broom.

I still shout rat for a mouse

but no one comes any more with a broom.

 

I got into this story like Pontius Pilate got

into the creed. I was simply there. It could have been

someone else.

I also wash my hands. Second to none, actually.

I don’t condemn anyone to death either and couldn’t dream

of pardoning anyone, anyone at all. Certainly not mice.

What do we know about Pontius Pilate?

Did he have a family?

Procurator. Prefect. Brutal. Handwash.

 

I’m such a nice person. Even so, I’m really mean

on mice.

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