Friday 19 June 2020

Klaus Høeck: 'Black Sonnets' (1977)

This book comprises 60 sonnets, addressed either to Yasir Arafat or Black September. It was written in March 1977 and published by Gyldendal in 1981. Below is the first sonnet. To see the entire collection, go to here:

(The numbers above each poem are the page numbers in the original book.)


Black September, a black mourning band from
Hell fluttered from the top of your standards
along with the national flags of all
these other countries on the day when the

white Olympic flag of fraternisa
tion and innocence was also run up
above Munich stadium. And while vic
tory ceremonies and the anthem

are played on military silver trump
ets you were all busy preparing the 
dark deeds of defeat and desperation.

I think that I understand you when you 
let fly with the star bazooka against
power and iniquitous collusion.

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