Humour & Satire

Overcast (I took the bus)

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Overcast

I did not read the book
I took
I did not cast a glance
not once
I took the bus and dreamt
no end
I wrote some verse of love
and stuff
I dreamt that in the street
we’d meet
and summer would return
and burn
and that would be the date
from fate:
the sun and you and me
all three

Christina Egan ©2023

There is evidently a lot of waiting for sunshine in northern latitudes, as in Warten ist der Winter and Hinter dem Olivenbaum …

This playful verse from a London double-decker bus was actually written in mid-August, when it should be bright and hot everywhere; yet the weather has always been unpredictable and is now turning seriously unstable. In this poem, the summer is not returning after the period of winter but after a long, dull, cool break between early and late heatwaves.

Hinweisschilder

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Hinweisschilder

I.

Dies Gedicht hat keine Bilder,
denn die Welt ist ein Gedicht!
Überall sind Hinweisschilder,
überall Scheinwerferlicht!

Doch wir tappen durch die Tage,
rumpeln, rempeln, fallen hin.
Sehn wir je, dann ohne Farbe,
ohne Muster, ohne Sinn.

II.

Manches wird herbeigeschafft,
anderes herbeigeschaffen.
Manches wird herangerafft,
anderes herangelassen.

Manches wird herbeigeredet,
anderes herbeigeschrieben,
manches auch herbeigebetet
oder gar herbeigeschwiegen.

Christina Egan ©2024

You may wonder why I label philosophical musings “Religion” or why my poems on “Religion” do not refer more to a certain creed. Yet for me personally, there is no philosophy without religion. God is present everywhere, whether we feel it or not, and our life is a search for God, whether we know it or not.

As regards Christianity, my poetry is very much inspired by the Scriptures, the hymns, the liturgy, the imagery. I probably owe more to Martin Luther than to any other writer. All German speakers do. It also seems to me that in this secular society, I would most put people off by mentioning that I am a Catholic.

glanztanzend / dazzle-dancing

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

glanztanzend

glitzerndbunte
einzigartige
grußkarten
glückwünsche

aufgereiht
auf rotem faden
über kerzen
glanztanzend

dennochlächelnd
zurückzwinkernd
blickweckend
herzwärmend

glitzerndbunte
einzigartige
käfergedichte
lindwurmwörter

dank tinte
oder tastatur
überseesegelnd
überschallfliegend

von geist zu geist
von aug zu ohr
lautspielerei
wortzauberei

Christina Egan ©2023

A handful of hand-crafted Christmas cards in different styles and colours.

dazzle-dancing

sparkly-motley
one-of-a-kind
greeting cards
congratulations

lined up on
red thread
above candles
dazzle-dancing

smiling anyway
winking back
awakening gazes
warming hearts

sparkly-motley
one-of-a-kind
little beetle poems
dragon’s tail words

overseas sailing
supersonic flying
thanks to ink
or keyboard

from mind to mind
from eye to ear
sound-play
word-spell

Christina Egan ©2024

A handful of hand-crafted Christmas cards in different styles and colours.

The poem does what it describes: inventing words, lining them up, and sending them to others to greet them and cheer them up!

The newly coined terms had to be re-created in English – where they do of course not look as impressive. “lindwurmwörter”, for instance, really sounds and looks as long as a dragon, while “dragon’s tail words” looks like three words, even though I added the tail in to get a similar effect in meaning and length.

In England, many people hang Christmas cards up on golden strings. During the festive seasons of 2022/23 and 2023/24, I crafted many greeting cards myself, each of them unique.

Seasonal greeting cards. Artwork: Christina Egan ©2022/©2023/©2024. Photographs: Miriam Hornsby ©2024.

The Palms and the Poet

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

The Palms and the Poet

Short sturdy palm-trees, their leaves being blown to one side by a strong wind; blue sky, bright lawn.The palm-trees where the poet lingers
stretch out a thousand feathery fingers
and offer sweetest dates.
The shoulder-high ones’ shining tresses
give to the passing knight caresses,
the tall ones, sprinkled shades.

They weave their silken wings together
to shield him from the weighing weather
and point him to the wells.
He seems to smile, but does not notice
the leaves nor fruits, for in his throat is
a spring of syllables.

Christina Egan © 2005

Pond with weeping willow reflected and white goose crossing.

 

Huge Harp

The weeping willow
is smiling in the sunshine,
dancing in the wind.
You sit by the pond beneath,
as if inside a huge harp.

Christina Egan © 2017

The tanka’s image of the poet beside a large harp or lyre, as if he were sitting inside, was inspired by stained-glass windows or illuminated manuscripts showing King David performing the psalms he is said to have composed.

Photographs: Christina Egan © 2014 / © 2018.

geh aus mein herz

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

geh aus mein herz

die braunen bauklotzhäuser
mit farbenkastentüren
die weißen blütenkelche
die sich versonnen rühren

im wind aus samt und seide
die schweren purpurrosen
in Salomonis kleide
die deine finger kosen…

der sommer will dich füllen
die erde lädt dich ein
zu laufen und zu schaffen
zu schauen und zu
sein

Christina Egan © 2011

Salomonis Seide

In Purpur zog der Kaiser einst,
in Scharlachrot der Kardinal,
in Violett die Kaiserin
in einen grüngeschmückten Saal.

So prunken die Geranien
in ihrer Sommerprozession
und rufen in das Gartenrund:
“Wir übertrumpfen Salomon!”

Christina Egan © 2014

The appeal ‘Go out and seek joy’ and the metaphor of King Solomon’s silk are taken from the jubilant hymn and folksong Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud, written by Paul Gerhardt in the middle of the 17th century.

The houses in uniform dull colours with front doors in different bright colours are typical for London. So are the little private gardens with geraniums.

The first poem is contemplative and intense, the second one humorous and light. The last line of the first poem is cut up on purpose: to let the word ‘to be’ resound on its own.

For an English poem about the pageant of summer see Lilac and Lime.

 

The Dance of the Sacks

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

The Dance of the Sacks

There’s the war tax and the peace tax
There’s the core tax and the fleece tax
There’s the fish tax and the spice tax
There’s the poll tax and the vice tax!

There’s the whisper of a tax-plan
There’s the whistle of the tax-man!

There’s the old tax and the new tax
There’s the wool tax and the wheat tax
There’s the old tax for the new sacks
And the new tax for the old sacks!

There’s the tax-man with his tablet
It’s a state-protected racket!

Christina Egan © 2011

Small clay tablet with cuneiform text.

This comical song for a jig is taken from my stage play The Bricks of Ur  (© 2011) set around 2000 BC.

The tax collectors could wield either Sumerian clay tablets or 21st century electronic tablets!

I must have been inspired by a hilarious jig in one of the first seasons of Shakespeare’s Globe in London…

Receipt for 13 woolen garments, ca. 2038 BC. Photograph by Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr [CeCILL or CC BY-SA 2.0 fr] via Wikimedia Commons.

Ich fülle das Papier

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Ich fülle das Papier

Caterpillar, very bright green, with crumpled leaf and edgy stone on sand.Ich fülle das Papier
mit langen schwarzen Kringeln,
die sich von mir zu dir
wie lauter Raupen ringeln.

In Wörtern schicke ich
mein Lächeln und mein Zwinkern
und jenes Frühlingslicht
gleich hinter meinen Wimpern.

Christina Egan © 2012

I had the poem and font colour before I found the caterpillar…!
I send a lot of handwritten letters; last year, it was exactly 100!

Photograph:  Christina Egan © 2016.

A Faint Rainbow (Christmas Card)

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

A Faint Rainbow
(Christmas Card)

A faint rainbow maybe,
draped across a frozen market,
a filigree tree in the foreground,Old Dutch painting: lively scene of skaters between barren trees, steep gables and a pink manor house
some leisurely loops of skaters,
cloaked figures arranged like mute music –
that’ll do for a Christmas poem.

Good that my second-hand thoughts
and my second-rate verse
are still better than any in town
and almost as good as mulled wine…
And good that my real-life love
turns every single day into Christmas!

Christina Egan © 2012

These lines were inspired by this round painting :
A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle, ca. 1608-09,
by Hendrick Avercamp. — © National Gallery, London

Fresh & Bright

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Fresh & Bright

My brain’s a tube called Fresh & Bright
which squeezes out, in green and white,
a train of thought for your delight
and your enlightenment alike.

My mouth releases bite by bite
its philosophic fluoride
to stimulate your fancy’s flight:
Take one by day and one by night.

Christina Egan © 2015

Meine blaue Mauer

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Meine blaue Mauer

Oranges hanging from branches against blue sky

Ich tränke die Terrassenwand
mit Mittelmeeresblau,
denn auch im Goldorangenland
regiert zuweilen Grau.

Ich pflanze einen Ölbaumzweig
in einen irdnen Topf,
als säße ich im Römerreich
mit meinem prallen Pfropf. Fragment of a plate; fine red pottery impressed with two doves

Ich krümele den Thymian,
kaum samengroßes Laub:
Sein wilder Duft steigt himmelan –
Mein südlich süßes Kraut!

Ich leg’ ein rotes Scherbenrund
in meine Marmorhand,
als hielte der gemeine Fund
Jahrtausende gebannt…

Roof terrace with pots of little palm-trees and fence all painted in striking bright blue.Auf meiner Gartenmauer schau’
ich Städte bunt erblühn
und wachsen in das satte Blau
und wanken und verglühn.

Ich ritze meinen Namen stolz
dem Putz ein auf Latein;
ich warte aufs Olivenholz
und schlürfe Purpurwein…

Christina Egan © 2014

Photographs: Morocco
Christina Egan © 2012

Photo of Late Roman shard from Egypt used
with kind permission of the British Museum.