Sunday, 23 June 2019

Klaus Høeck: Poems from 'Blackberry Winter' (1987)

THE MOTH AND THE FLAME

natsværmeren drages mod lyset
for at finde mørket dybere ind
i dén flamme der netop forhindrer
den i at se dét mørke
som den allerede flyver rundt i


THE MOTH AND THE FLAME

the moth is attracted to the flame
seeking to find the dark held even deeper
within that flame which precisely prevents
it seeing the very dark
which it already is flying round in


CHANGES 
     nu sortner solen
midt i brombærvinterens
     mest hvideste krat

CHANGES 
     the sun now darkens
right in blackberry winter’s
     whitest of scrubland


SOMEWHERE BEFORE

jeg tager en ring med
ni perler i indfatningen:
otte små omkring een stor
dén placerer jeg i en
aluminiumbeholder der
normalt bruges til filmnegativer
så skruer jeg omhyggeligt
låget på og beslutter mig til
aldrig mere at åbne denne cylinder


SOMEWHERE BEFORE

i take up a ring with
nine pearls comprising its setting:
eight small around a big one
this ring i place inside an
aluminium container which
is normally used for film negatives
then i meticulously screw
on the lid and make the decision
never again to open this cylinder


EYES OF THE HEART

til henrik

først da den kaffekop
jeg havde drukket af i over ti år
smadrede i tusinde stykker
blev jeg klar over at også jeg
skulle have skrevet en slags
kinesisk digt om porcelænslandskaber
nu da det var for sent
fordi jeg først i dét øjeblik
så at der ver malet
et eller andet mønster i den blå glasur


THE EYES OF THE HEART

to henrik

not till the coffee cup
that i had drunk from for more than a decade
shattered into a thousand pieces
did i realise that i as well
ought to have written a chi
nese-like poem about porcelain landscapes
now that it was too late
since it was only in that instant
i saw that a hand had
painted some kind of pattern in the azure glaze


RUTA AND DAITYA
      
     at elske det du
elsker er åbenbart ik
     ke nogen let sag
     først på den anden
side af beherskelsen
     ved du hvad lyst er
     først på besindel
sens anden side ved du
     hvad kærlighed er
dér hvor vinteren
bløder sort af dé brombær
     du ikke spiste


RUTA AND DAITYA

     to love that which you
love would appear not to be
     a simple matter
     only on the far
side of selfcontrol do you
     know what desire is
     only when you are
beyond selfcomposure do
     you know what love is
     there where the winter
bleeds black with those blackberries
     you left uneaten


tusind morgenfruer
den ene ved
siden af den anden
smukkere endnu for hver
gang gentagelsen finder sted
lige dejlig hver eneste gang

du får øje på dens glorie
har du set een morgenfrue
har du set dem alle
har du set alle morgenfruer
har du dog kun set een


a thousand marigolds
standing next to
each other row on row
yet more beautiful each time
that the repetition takes place
as lovely every single time

you catch a glimpse of its halo
if you have seen one marigold
then you have seen them all
if you have seen all marigolds
you have but seen the one


EL JUICIO

michael 
     der er en ømhed
som sårer hjertet mer end
     et samuraisværd
     en maskulin hen
givenhed mer grusom end
     en rose i blomst
     der er et liv som
ikke kun måles i år
     men i kærlighed
     i kortere glimt
men klarere så du sand
     heden mer end vi


EL JUICIO

michael

     there is a tender
ness that wounds the heart more than
     a samurai sword
     a masculine de
votedness more cruel than
     a rose in full bloom
     there is a life which
is not solely measured out
     in years but in love
     in shorter glimpses
but more clearly you saw the
truth more than we did 

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