Maria Barnas
Translated from the Dutch by Donald Gardner
An Englishman with gorgeous eyes is tuning my piano.
I’m going to do it very carefully, he says.
Droplets and leaves are spilling from the elderberry bush
in the corner of the garden, sir, like words from my mouth.
Would you mind?
I think the tree is incurably ill.
We might have a slight problem here.
We.

A humid summer has dawned in my mind
dear sir, a paralysing heat. Do you have any suggestions?
I don’t know what ‘scorching’ is in English.
Would you like a drink?
Thank you so much.
How much?

In Brussels I ate chocolate made of gold foil
and I wore an impeccable hat.
In Paris I rode in a Ferris wheel.
I could go with you to London just like that.

If I have sugar. And milk.
The Englishman plays.
Erbarme dich.

That is that. That is all.
Thank you so much.


Erbarme Dich

Een Engelsman met prachtige ogen stemt mijn piano.
I’m going to do it very carefully zegt hij.
Er vallen druppels en blaadjes uit de vlierbes die in de hoek
van de tuin staat, sir, als woorden uit mijn mond.
Would you mind?
Ik denk dat de boom ongeneeslijk ziek is.
We might have a slight problem here.
Wij.

Er is een vochtige zomer aangebroken in mijn hoofd
dear sir, een verlammende hitte. Weet u misschien raad?
Ik weet niet wat verzengend in het Engels is.
Would you like a drink?
Thank you so much.
How much?

In Brussel at ik chocola uit goudblad
en ik had smetteloze schoenen aan.
In Parijs zat ik in een reuzenrad.
Ik zou zo met u mee naar Londen gaan.

Of ik suiker heb. En melk.
De Engelsman speelt.
Erbarme dich.

Dat is dat. Dat is alles.
Thank you so much.
from the book RINKELDEKINKEL: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DUTCH POETRY / Milkweed Editions
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Purchase of Simon & Schuster Challenged

"The U.S. Department of Justice has sued to block Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann’s proposed acquisition of Viacom CBS subsidiary Simon & Schuster, arguing that it 'would result in substantial harm to authors.' The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on November 2."

via PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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Cover of Wanda Coleman's pamphlet, Art in the Court of the Blue Fag, from Black Sparrow Press
What Sparks Poetry:
Dana Levin on Wanda Coleman's "The Woman and Her Thang"

"Standing at the magazine rack at Beyond Baroque, I opened Coleman’s chapbook at random and read: 'She kept it in a black green felt-lined box.' Ten monosyllabs—how I loved saying them, each one a kind of floating stone in the mouth—introducing the speaker’s 'thang': seductive and dangerous, wreaking havoc on her love life."
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18th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
January 10-15, 2022

We are pledged to create an extraordinary week of virtual poetry workshops and events for you in the safety of your home.
 
Workshop Faculty: Kim Addonizio, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Chard deNiord, Mark Doty, Yona Harvey, John Murillo, Matthew Olzmann and Diane Seuss. One-On-One Conferences with Lorna Blake, Sally Bliumis Dunn, Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, and Angela Narciso Torres. A special Craft Talk by Kwame Dawes. Special Guest Poet: Yusef Komunyakaa. Poet-at-Large: Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
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