( )ku

cloudburst

I soak orchids

            (Weather Report on the stereo)

on Fridays

skybrud

jeg sætter orkideer i blød

             (Weather Report på anlægget)

om fredagen

()ku

the sun is out

                  (quite rare this summer)

my orchids loos their flowers

simultaneously

solen er fremme

              (ret sjældent denne sommer)

mine orkideer taber blomsterne

samtidigt

consciousness / bevidsthed

”it's all consciousness ...”

                   (how far can you take this?)

I open the door

to smell the rain

”det hele er bevidsthed ...”

                   (hvor lang kan man strække dén?)

jeg åbner døren

for lugte til regen

rings / ringe - haiga

( )

a discoloring of skin I forgot to watch the Venus passage 

en misfarvning af hud jeg glemte at se Venuspassagen

Green Shirt / Grøn skjorte (solo-rengay)

(Oh, I can collaborate with myself! What a treat!)

   Green Shirt / Grøn skjorte   



light on his feet
the man in the green shirt
dances the samba


                                   let på fødderne
                                   manden i den grønne skjorte
                                   danser samba


two or five swallows
around the Church of Comfort


                                   to eller fem svaler
                                   omkring Behagelighedens Kirke


tell me about moons
or apples - the green shirt
just hangs there


                                   fortæl mig om måner
                                   eller æbler – den grønne skjorte
                                   hænger blot dér


coffee steam
the mysterious rejsende
has been and gone


                                  damp fra kaffen
                                  den mystiske rejsende
                                  er kommet og gået


8.30
I buy a new body
at the black market


                                  8.30
                                  jeg køber en ny krop
                                  på det sorte marked


a waltz for berimbau
she drips mango juice – stop!


                                 en vals for berimbau
                                 hun drypper mangojuice – stop!


a slow cigar
there's no low pressures
in the weather report


                                 en langsom cigar
                                 der er ingen lavtryk
                                 i vejrudsigten

A Hundred Gourds 1:3 (w/translations)

Not sure about this here custom among poets: posting something already published by others ...as if to say: look, other people think this is o.k.?

Nevertheless: the English versions were published in A Hundred Gourds 1:3. The Danish versions are now shown as well here ... Raga Lalit is a North Indian morning-raga.

sneezeing (alone) I watch a kigo melt

nyser (alene) jeg ser et kigo smelte

:

raga lalit the first thing painted is the clock

raga lalit den første ting der males er uret

:

half a sentence

I fold the dusk

into a napkin

en halv sætning

jeg folder tusmørket

sammen til en serviet

Raga Megha

Raga Megha -
          (and it's raining cats 'n' dogs)
the swifts fly
yet lower




Raga Megha -
           (og det regner skoma'rdrenge)
mursejlerne flyver
stadigt lavere

(Raga Megh(a) is a North Indian Raga belonging to the moonsoon season / Raga Megh(a) er en nordindisk raga, der hører til regntiden/monsunen)

son & lumiere

son et lumiere on a shopping list: fun



son et lumiere på en indkøbsseddel: morskab

Venus passage / Venuspassagen

a distant chainsaw

or a bumblebee trying to

penetrate a window

                              en fjern motorsav

                              eller en brumbasse der forsøger

                              at trænge gennem et vindue

even old this bike

sees the Venus passage

                              selvom den er gammel

                              ser cyklen Venuspassagen

oh, it's June

I thought May-thoughts

a few days too long

                               åh, det' juni

                               jeg tænkte majtanker

                               et par dage for længe

worn trousers

I have nothing much

but holes

                               slidte bukser

                               jeg har ikke meget andet

                               end huller

one of those days:

the same room behind

every door

                               én af disse dage:

                               det samme værelse

                               bag enhver dør

a frog is a frog

even by full moon

                               en frø er en frø

                               selv ved fuldmåne

what I’m best at

having an opinion

both hands in pocket

                               det jeg er bedst til

                               at ha’ en mening med

                               begge hænder i lommen

( ) again / ( ) igen

posting you
           (in a brown envelope)
a house built from
heart beats

sender dig
          (i en brun kuvert)
et hus bygget af
hjerteslag

parenthesis-ku? / parantes-ku?

doing neti -

       (neti, neti, you know:

                not this, nor that)

ten or twenty swallows

circle the house

laver en neti -

          (neti, neti, du véd:

                  ikke dette, ikke hint)

ti eller tyve svaler flyver

rundt om huset

--

Neti: flushing your nose w salt water through a special jug. Yoga-practice.
Neti, Neti: a quote from the Upanishads meaning: not this nor that / not here nor there to the question of where lies the essence of things, God, or what is it, He.

proof of faith (air-guitar) / trosbevis (luftguitar) (solo rengay)

a proof of my faith?
we live in a rainbow
nursing oysters


                         et bevis på min tro?
                         vi lever i en regnbue
                         og plejer østers


a cracked cup …
you know how it is


                          en skåret kop …
                          du véd hvordan det er


daily martyrdom
and ressurrection – in between
washing hands


                           dagligt martyrium
                           og genopstandelse – indimellem
                           håndvask


beneath the floor boards
creaps that live
from rot


                           under gulvbrædderne
                           kryb der lever
                           af råd


strumming it too hard
a string breaks on my air-guitar


                           jeg spænder den for hårdt
                           en streng knækker på min luftguitar


between sneezes
I think about

ungratefulness

                           mellem nys
                           tænker jeg på
                           utaknemmelighed