From Novel J’s
From Novel J’s
(poem ascribed to the Frenchman, Jean-Claude, l970, Translated 2019)
Je ne comprends rien…cette vie.
En effet, il n’y a aucune chose
que je comprends. Rien.
C’est seulement…
rien.
DARKNESS: AN ODE TO INDEPENDENCE
(1970, from Novel J’s)
Oblique setting
sun caressing my shoulders,
legs, crossed yoga-style,
sitting on the hard dirt.
Freely rooted?
From Novel J’s
(poem ascribed to the Frenchman, Jean-Claude, l970, Translated 2019)
Seul?
Qui, je suis seul,..mais,il n’y a
aucun difference entre moi et
les autres
Tout le monde nait seul, meurt seul.
Mais il y a des amis, comme toi.
Tu viens et nous partageons
le pain et le vin
Puis, bien que nous soyons seul, nous ne
sommes pas
solitaires.
German poem: Feeling Thence to Nowhere
(Herfliehend ins Nirgends) written at 23. Translated in 2018 by Jacob C. Schaubs and Xuxu Song
Fleeing thence to Nowhere
The pastor stepped slowly into the night,
From the high mountain looking out
Faces of people lying
On the earth, screaming in pain.
Johanna’s comment: Thanksgiving, 2018 Your existential phase captured:
in German, yet. The poem feels – heavy, dark without respite, existential despair, the end of faith, unrelieved darkness. Good job capturing the grim, never-ending blackness….:) (nice to be able to write this from nearly 50 years later!!)