Brossard & Ince

At York University. Early breakfast seance listening to Nicole Brossard
talk of "la ville" the city in her life and writing, as a major producer
of euphoria, saying "l'air de la ville rend libre parce que nous y circulons."
But Toronto itself is  1&1/2 hour away by bus or $50 by taxi.Late this
afternoon a roundtable discussion with her and her translators into
English and Spanish. More on that as I can.

In Luxembourg last week was able to spend time with Turkish poet Ozdemir Ince.
We read together on a boat going up and down the Moselle; heavy rains outside.
Wierd time spent in a sleuce. Much talk of Bodrum, anciently Hallicarnussus,
Herodotus' birthplace where he now lives six months of the year and where I
came through years ago on my Olsonian quest for the father of prose & history
writing.Some of Ince's work has been translated into English, and below a poem that
came out in Talisman some years ago:


POET'S NONALIGNMENT

The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
a scent of the sea remains in his nails,
he has seen how the apple rotted and fell of its branch:
the smell of salt will return to the sea
and the apple will not bow its head to its quintessence.

The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
the water turns blue as it gathers in the cistern,
the shadow becomes shorter as the sun rises,
the genuine noon is the poet's witness.

The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
because he is opposed to both death and deathlessness.

Ozdemir Ince
Translated by Talat Sait Halman (Talisman, 1991(Spring 6))

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