0-The University of California Book of North African Literature
1-Exile is My Trade: A Habib Tengour Reader edited & translated by Pierre Joris
2-Pierre Joris: Cartographies of the In-Between edited by Peter Cockelbergh
3-Paul Celan: The Meridian Final Version—Drafts—Materials
Justifying the Margins (Essays)
This morning, thinking of old friend Anselm Hollo now in hospice, I read into MAYA, that gorgeous 1970 Cape Golliard book of his, gathering poems from 1959 to 1969. Here is the one that spoke to me most right now:
w e b e r n
1
switch off the light
the trees stand together
easier then
to be in our bodies
growing quietly
‘dem tode entgegen’
slow it is
a slow business
to grow a few words
to say love
2
“who will have mercy upon us
if we
have none”
merci is thanks
say thanks
for the small mercies
such as the breath
and the hand
still moving
And merci for this. One will hold a good thought.
It’s powerful stuff – I wish I were have effective with such minimal speech. He makes the slow business, the small mercies, seem so much more graceful than felt at times.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.