Two musicians, one a poet

Here the incredible duo enjoyed by all: Lucienne Stassaert, the Grande Dame of Poetry reading from the cycle: Long enough.
It is a heart wrenching end of love situation, sharply formulated, merciless in its honesty.

One of Lucienne's poetry's strong points is the rhythm. She played even in the Queen Elizabeth competition. When proofreading a translation of her work, she will try out the cadence of the new coat for her feelings and thoughts.

Here she plays with her friend Jean Demey.

  pictures: © Bram Goots


Jean  does grand improvisations.
That is how we met. He has a feel for the moods and the color of the words. His playing with Lucienne's words was in different shades of blues. in the past  he performed with poets as Paul Snoek, Hugo Raes, Willem Roggeman, Cees Buddingh and Gust Gils,

*

Lang genoeg

I

Lang genoeg quatre-mains gespeeld

zonder één keer op te kijken,

na te gaan zoals Orfeus

of mijn lief al dan niet nog bestond.

Lang genoeg bij hoge noten

een bas gemist bij het samenspel

om de toonloze stilten te wegen

vóór en na de kleine dood.

Jodelen kon. En zich te pletter ademen

zoals minnaars op het hoogst van de min

in volle vlam uit het licht vallen

en in den blinde uit elkaar.

Tot op een zeker zwart-wit moment,

juist afgesteld en gekadreerd,

de waarheid als een inmaakbom

van verrot fruit aan scherven sprong:

Hij speelde al jaren niet meer mee.

*

Long enough

I

Played a duet long enough

without looking up once,

checking as Orpheus
whether or not my lover still existed.

Long enough with high notes
missed a bass in this ensemble
to weigh the toneless silences
before and after la petite mort.

Yodelling possible. Breathing oneself to pieces
as lovers at the height of ardour
in full flame fall out of the light
blindly fall apart.

Till a certain black/white moment,
correctly focused and framed,
the truth like a preserving bottle bomb
of rotten fruit exploding in shards:

He hadn’t played along for years.

Rose Vandewalle here in the studio when we recorded the poems included in the different anthologies we are working on. Her she is reading her poems from Love in Holland and Flanders. She reads in a fragile, faltering voice which renders all the emotion that went into the writing of the poem. During the evening at the Permeke library she read Always at the bottom of the steep stairs

So today I post another of her love poems.
Wanneer ik zijn kamer betreed
valt op hoe overstuur hij is
zijn ogen schichtige vissen in een vijver

hij kan me niet meer thuisbrengen
geeft na enig aarzelen toe dat dit
de heerlijkste dag is van zijn leven

nu ik hem kom bevrijden
en hij reikt me zijn pols
waarrond de band met identificatie

dat het oorlog is, verkondigt hij
en hij met eigen ogen heeft gezien
hoe mensen om zich heen

gebrandmerkt en afgevoerd werden
tranen van angst slaan om
in tranen van vreugde
*
Wenn ich seine Kammer betrete
fällts auf wie durcheinander er ist
seine Augen kopfscheue Fische in einem Teich

er kann mich nicht mehr nach Haus bringen
gibt nach einigem Schwanken zu daß dies
der herrlichste Tag seines Lebens

jetzt da ich komme ihn zu befreien
und er reicht mir seine Hand
worum das Band mit der Identifikation

daß es Krieg ist, verkündigt er
und er mit Augen gesehen hat
wie Menschen um ihn herum

gebrandmarkt und abgeführt werden
Tränen von Angst schlagen um
in Tränen aus Freude
*
When I enter his room
it's obvious how disturbed he is
his eyes shy fishes in a pond

he can not place me
admits after a few hesitations that this
is the most delightful day of his life

now I come to liberate him
and he offers me his wrist
around it his identification strip

that it is war, he declares
and that his own eyes have seen
how people around him

were branded and deported
tears of fear turn into
tears of joy

Preparing for a performance

Preparing for a performance entails meeting the people one will be surrounded by for the next couple of hours.  LIGHT, COMPOSITION OF THE STAGE, SOUND CHECK: essential and Roel, the technician covered it all in a kind and gentle and professional way. Thanks to him all worked well and smoothly. When Lucienne Stassaert, Frank De Vos and Patricia van Nunen were done gauging the distance to the microphone, knowing were they would read or sing, they relaxed with a glass of excellent Portuguese cava.

The anker of the evening

Roger Nupie was the MC, he kept a good rhythm going, announced with a lighthearted seriousness. One could tell he was having fun doing what he did. See the sign Rurhgebiet 2010 ? Well it is in the framework of the Cultural Capital of Europe that this big translation project started.

Patrica opened the evening with a song by Jean Ferrat: Le poète a toujours raison - The poet is always right. She performs a capella and goes to edge of what is singable. I am always moved by her renditions...

Three day Festival is over

This the official handing over picture of three books: The Anthology Die Liebe in Holland and Flanders,Liefde in Holland en Vlaanderen, Love in Holland and Flanders, Felsenleiter by Fred Schywek and Werkworte, Werkwoorden, workbook by Annmarie Sauer.

The Small festival of European poetry is over. The last night in the library went as well as the night in den Hopsack , last Thursday. The preparation for this festival took eight month of work, planning and thinking for the two organizers. The choice of poetry, the projection of translations in Dutch, German and English, the different ways of presenting the poetry, all was appreciated by the audience. As one of camera operator said, we offered something for the eye and the ear, had different duets who read together indifferent ways, simultaneous, whispering, interspersed lines.... One singer full of emotion and presence and one enjoying the acoustics and ringing out... People had been encouraged to do something with the presentation and many rose to the challenge performing with a base guitar, singing a tear-jerking harbor song with a guitar as the frivolous ending. One poem was danced... People were curious at what would happen next.So all was well. The picture above is Fred Schywek reading with Frank De Vos an Anti War Blues... In the next days I'll thank each poet and performer with a text and/or a picture. Five languages were used in the course of the night...

Love in Holland and Flanders

 Today is the great day of  the Festival. Part of it, the third part is about 'Love' The poetesses will read poems  from the book Love in Holland and Flanders. It is the official international presentation of the book tonight. Yesterday in the studio 4 of the poetess read their complete contribution to the project. it went smoothly and the music with Lucienne Stassaerts poems sounds great. We'll have to see what we do with the material when it is complete. Many projects and thoughts.

3 pm building the stage, sound check and lights, working technical issues  for projections.
4 pm: general rehearsal...
7 pm: door s open to the public
8 pm: start with the song: Le poète a toujours raison...

German Evening- International day

The poets have arrived. My place filled to the brim with paper and books now houses two more poets one from Bretagne France and one from Essen Germany. Wilfied Bienek presented his poetry in German and English, and translations of his work were read in Dutch and English. Fred Schywek presented his latest volume of Poetry Felsenleiter


They were flanked by the translations by Annmarie Sauer. Bart Stouten, Olivier Cousin, and JOb Degenaar shared thoughts about German poets.
A German translation by Fred Schywek of Frank's poem was also read. The audience listened appreciatively to the change of language and moods that was offered. The following tribute by Fred Schywek to the only German Nobel prize laureate for poetry Nelly Sachs was performed.


God is Black  
Memory of Nelly Sachs

That is a real death-dance
all moan and groan
and during the year of punishment
that is there on the horizon
with its hard mountains
and the water
out of the salt cried tears
of these nights
on the ferry over the Black Ocean
over the black river
in the stronghold where there was love
in the night between the stones
like dark diamonds yet shining
in this night
when I left my dearest
when I went
to kiss her
on her brow
by night in this night
waking up from the
white dream
of year 1

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German Poetry

On the 16th two German poets Wilfried Bienek, (Essen) and Fred Schywek (Duisburg) are the main attraction for Gegenlesung, Deutsland ins Fadenkreuz: Counter lecture: Germany in the line of sight. This activity takes place in den Hopsack, in Antwerp, at eight thirty pm of course.
Here a poem inciting to resistance...
STADT,LAND,FLUSS

Autos zerfahren ziellos Reih und Glied.
Bäume zerschneiden planlos Lichterketten.
Wenn die Stadt prunkt rar und stattlich
Das Land glänzt porentief.

Aufpoliert ist der Fluss.
Von fleißigen Wasserträgern.
Aber da die überbrückten Kanäle:
Dampfen falsch ins Weite.
Als wollten sie sprechen
Sagen: Schöpft Verdacht
*
STAD, LAND, STROOM

Auto's rijden doelloos rij en gelid stuk.
Bomen snijden zonder plan door lichtslingers.
Als de stad pront fijn en statig
Het land glanst tot diep in de poriën.

Opgeboend is de stroom.
Door vlijtige waterdragers.
Maar daar de overbrugde kanalen:
Stomend fout de wijdte in.
Alsof ze spreken wilden
Zeggen: Maakt verdacht!

For more info about the Small Festival of European Poetry check www.Dichtkunst.eu
For those who don't know: den Hopsack is a small, brown, literary café, active in this field during many years. And not unimportant with the cheapest beer in town. Grote Pieter Pot Straat...