zehn jahre nach dem blitzschlag vorm bildschirm und der wirklichgewordenen sonnenwende im büro mache ich schluß mit der nichtbeziehung.
die blauen briefe die taumelnden niegelesenen nieabgeschickten fliegen endlich in den reißwolf denn du hast durchweg ausdrücklich geschwiegen.
mondenhelle augen und kein lichtstrahl fiel auf mich wellenschlag der stimme und kein wörtchen fiel mir zu.
die aufgehäuften gedichte geschliffen und gleißend sind alle noch da berstend von bildern die sich auffächern vom ersten goldfisch bis zum letzten falken.
schweres gebräu gefiltert zum salböl und abgefüllt in die phiolen von zweimal zwei reimen oder vierzehn zeilen.
den drachenschwanz der letzten wortkette hänge ich in die wolken für die nachwelt.
Is this moon new or young, a sliver or a crescent, silver or golden in the deep blue, the newly deep sky, is it striking or dazzling or mesmerising?
Is this a late spring, belated and all the more welcome, bursting with life, with green, bright green, saturated with rain and sunshine, saturated with colour and heat, heat unfamiliar and all the more welcome, or is it sudden summer?
Is this life at last, is this joy, is this joy of life, is it zest, is it just new life-force or is it happiness or elation or bliss?
Reality, as it laps up against the shores of your eyes and your ears and your nose, reality as it washes over the leas of your skin and seeps beneath, cannot be captured in words, not even in verse: reality, so dense it feels like a dream, is not a dream cloud nor a word cloud.
Although this poem would make a good one, with the message of sudden summer sounding out like birdcall, flooded with light and colour, steeped in joy, as if words were written from life and for life, as if words were part of life, of the wide earth and the deep sky and the reality beyond, of the ever-flowing life-force.
Word cloud of the poem Sudden Summer (colours edited but randomly allocated).
Happiness Beyond (Word Cloud)
Your life is a green reality, it reads in large green letters, and newly young; the sky is golden at last, it states in fine golden letters, and saturated with joy; eyes and ears are bursting with wide bright light, it adds in silvery white; and at the edge there is happiness beyond colour on deep-blue ground.
These are welcome words, sudden and possibly deep, a mesmerising message from slivers of verse in your ears, from the new dream poem, from the word cloud of Sudden summer: Your life is a green reality saturated with joy under the newly young moon.
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.
Malen die Schwalben verschlungene Schrift aufs Blau wie ein uraltes Liebesgedicht, baden die Wolken in rosigem Licht, schwanger mit Regen, der Ernte verspricht, während sich Finger in Finger verflicht und Auge zu Auge nun schrankenlos spricht. Segen der Erde schwelle und steige, Segen des Himmels sinke und bleibe!
May the sun shine and the stars On you both all the way. May your wishes and your dreams All come true from today. May the blessings from below Rise and swell, rise and swell. May the blessings from above Sink and dwell, sink and dwell.
Inspired by the word cloud Colour, Life, Silence of the 25 English poems I have written over the past months (generated and designed thanks to the Simple Word Cloud Generator). The word cloud created from this poem, in turn, brought up the corresponding German words, with a number of other words expressing the central term “poem”. “Erschrieben” is a word I made up for bringing about something by writing, while the regular word “erleben” means experiencing and is passive… or perhaps not!
eine kristallkugel schwebte überm wald und berührte die wipfel als ich dir zufiel unsere namen hingen in den sternen überkreuz es gibt keinen zufall
tausend bücher hab ich an meiner wand die schieb ich beiseite wie einen vorhang tausend gedichte hab ich in meiner kiste da steig ich hinüber die brauchen wir nicht
denn ich schreibe dir ein neues gedicht eine neue sprache ein neues schweigen denn du schenkst mir ein neues lächeln ein neues leuchten eine neue leichtigkeit
There is an empty space on greyish paper: to fill with fire from a rocky scar and with fresh ashes on a ghostly glacier, to fix a brilliant moon and matching star.
Die graue Leere des Papiers erfüllt das Feuer, das aus Felsennarbe quilt, der Aschenfall auf geisterhaftem Firn, der Mond mit funkelndem Begleitgestirn.
The poem has its origin in a coffee bar in a busy high street in London. It was published in the Tottenham Community Press (print issue of December 2018).
Christina Egan 