Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Edvard Kocbek

MICROPHONE IN THE WALL

We are finally alone
you and I,
but (don\'t even think
of taking it easy or resting
for your work is just now starting.
You will listen to my silence
which is loquacious
and draws you to the depth of truth.
Listen carefully now,
you beast with no eyes or tongue,
monster with ears only.
My spirit talks without voice,
shouts and screams inaudibly
with joy to have you here,
you Great Suspicion,
hungering for me to reveal myself,
My silence is opening books
and dangerous manuscripts,
lexicons and prophets,
ancient truths and laws,
stories of loyalty and torture.
There is no way you can rest,
you have to swallow this, gulp it down
though you arc already choking
and your car is exhausted.
You are unable to interrupt me
or say anything in return;
my time has arrived
and I insult you, curse you,
you impostor, poisoner,
desecrator, slave, satan,
machine, death, death.
You swallow your shame
and are condemned to listen
not to speak,
because you are a monster
with only ears
and a bellyful of treason;
no tongue or truth,
you are helpless, can call me neither weakling
nor powerful,
cannot utter words like "grace" or "despair,"
shout to me to stop
though you are burning with slavish rage.
I greet you, crippled creature,
am glad you are here
immured day and night,
you cursed extension of the Great Suspicion,
the diabolical belly of inhuman force
which is so feeble that it shudders day and night.
Now you evoke my power
my unified an undivided power,
I cannot plant someone else
in my place
I am who I am —
restlessness and searching,
sincerity and pain,
faith, hope, love,
your magnificent counter-suspicion —
you never can divide me,
make me your double,
catch me
lying or calculating.
You\'ll never be the executioner of my conscience,
you don\'t have a choice
bill to swallow my joy
or, at times, my sadness.
You, my enemy,
my infertile neighbor
so different and inhuman
unable to break loose
to become insane or to commit suicide,
I can tell
I wore you out,
your tail is between your legs
but this is only an outline.
of my revenge:
my true revenge
is a poem.
You will never know me,
your ears have no light,
will be hushed by the passage of time
while I am a tongue-flame
fire
that will never cease to bum
and scorch.

Mikrofon v zidu

Mikrofon v zidu

Tako, zdaj sva sama,
nikogar ni vec razen naju.
In vendar te ne bom pustil,
ne boš si spocil in se umiril,
zdaj šele se zacenja tvoje opravilo,
poslušal boš moj molk,
moj molk je zgovornejši,
v njem si obsojen na brezno resnice.
Zdaj prisluhni, kakor še nisi,
zver brez oci in jezika,
pošast zgolj z ušesi.
Moj duh govori brez glasu,
neslišno krici in tuli
od radosti, da si tu
in da me slišiš, Veliki Sum,
pohlepen na razodetja.
Moj molk odpira knjige
in nevarne rokopise,
besednjake in preroke,
stare resnice in zakone,
zgodbe o zvestobi in mukah.
ne moreš si pociti.
goltati moraš, strašno poziraš.
vedno bolj se dušiš,
uho ti je vedno bolj utrujeno,
in vendar me ne moreš prekiniti
in nic mi ne moreš odgovoriti,
prihaja moja ura,
sramotim te in te psujem,
skrivaš, slepar, strupar,
skrunilec, suzenj, satan,
stroj, smrt, smrt,
poziraš svojo sramoto
in ne moreš nehati
in mi odgovoriti,
ker si pošast,
ker imaš samo ušesa
in samo izdajalski trebuh,
nimaš pa jezika in resnice,
ne moreš mi reci slabic,
ne moreš mi reci silak,
ne moreš izgovoriti milost, obup,
ne moreš krikniti nehaj,
ves si vroc od suzenjskega besa,
bodi  ozdravljen o pohabljeno bitje,
pravim ti, dobro je, da si tu,
neizreceno prav mi je,
da si noc in dan v zidu,
prekleti podaljšek,
zavrzeno uho Velikega Suma,
peklenski trebuh necloveške sile,
ki se noc in dan trese od slabosti,
zdaj si prebudil mojo moc,
mojo enotno in nedeljeno moc,
ne morem ti podtakniti
nic drugega od samega sebe,
sem, kar sem,
nemir in iskanje.
odkritost in bolecina,
istost in kar naprej istost,
vera, upanje, ljubezen,
tvoj veliki protisum,
sem, kar sem,
ne moreš me razdeliti
in me napraviti dvojnika.
nikoli me ne boš ujel
v lazi ali racunu,
nikoli ne boš rabelj moje vesti,
kar naprej boš poziral mojo radost
in tu pa tam mojo zalost,
da si mi sovraznik,
moj nerodovitni bliznjik,
tako popolnoma drugi in necloveški,
da se ne moreš strgati z verige
niti zblazneti ali napraviti samomora
Zdaj vidim,
da sem te upehal,
tvoj rep se je umiril,
in vendar je to šele osnutek
mojega mašcevanja,
moje pravo mašcevanje je pesem,
nikoli me ne boš odkril in spoznal,
nobena luc ne sveti ušesom,
ušesa so zazivela z vetrom
in z minevanjem
in bodo z minevanjem utihnila,
jaz pa sem jezik-plamen,
ogenj, ki je zagorel
in ne bo nehal goreti
in zgati.
Close

MICROPHONE IN THE WALL

We are finally alone
you and I,
but (don\'t even think
of taking it easy or resting
for your work is just now starting.
You will listen to my silence
which is loquacious
and draws you to the depth of truth.
Listen carefully now,
you beast with no eyes or tongue,
monster with ears only.
My spirit talks without voice,
shouts and screams inaudibly
with joy to have you here,
you Great Suspicion,
hungering for me to reveal myself,
My silence is opening books
and dangerous manuscripts,
lexicons and prophets,
ancient truths and laws,
stories of loyalty and torture.
There is no way you can rest,
you have to swallow this, gulp it down
though you arc already choking
and your car is exhausted.
You are unable to interrupt me
or say anything in return;
my time has arrived
and I insult you, curse you,
you impostor, poisoner,
desecrator, slave, satan,
machine, death, death.
You swallow your shame
and are condemned to listen
not to speak,
because you are a monster
with only ears
and a bellyful of treason;
no tongue or truth,
you are helpless, can call me neither weakling
nor powerful,
cannot utter words like "grace" or "despair,"
shout to me to stop
though you are burning with slavish rage.
I greet you, crippled creature,
am glad you are here
immured day and night,
you cursed extension of the Great Suspicion,
the diabolical belly of inhuman force
which is so feeble that it shudders day and night.
Now you evoke my power
my unified an undivided power,
I cannot plant someone else
in my place
I am who I am —
restlessness and searching,
sincerity and pain,
faith, hope, love,
your magnificent counter-suspicion —
you never can divide me,
make me your double,
catch me
lying or calculating.
You\'ll never be the executioner of my conscience,
you don\'t have a choice
bill to swallow my joy
or, at times, my sadness.
You, my enemy,
my infertile neighbor
so different and inhuman
unable to break loose
to become insane or to commit suicide,
I can tell
I wore you out,
your tail is between your legs
but this is only an outline.
of my revenge:
my true revenge
is a poem.
You will never know me,
your ears have no light,
will be hushed by the passage of time
while I am a tongue-flame
fire
that will never cease to bum
and scorch.

MICROPHONE IN THE WALL

We are finally alone
you and I,
but (don\'t even think
of taking it easy or resting
for your work is just now starting.
You will listen to my silence
which is loquacious
and draws you to the depth of truth.
Listen carefully now,
you beast with no eyes or tongue,
monster with ears only.
My spirit talks without voice,
shouts and screams inaudibly
with joy to have you here,
you Great Suspicion,
hungering for me to reveal myself,
My silence is opening books
and dangerous manuscripts,
lexicons and prophets,
ancient truths and laws,
stories of loyalty and torture.
There is no way you can rest,
you have to swallow this, gulp it down
though you arc already choking
and your car is exhausted.
You are unable to interrupt me
or say anything in return;
my time has arrived
and I insult you, curse you,
you impostor, poisoner,
desecrator, slave, satan,
machine, death, death.
You swallow your shame
and are condemned to listen
not to speak,
because you are a monster
with only ears
and a bellyful of treason;
no tongue or truth,
you are helpless, can call me neither weakling
nor powerful,
cannot utter words like "grace" or "despair,"
shout to me to stop
though you are burning with slavish rage.
I greet you, crippled creature,
am glad you are here
immured day and night,
you cursed extension of the Great Suspicion,
the diabolical belly of inhuman force
which is so feeble that it shudders day and night.
Now you evoke my power
my unified an undivided power,
I cannot plant someone else
in my place
I am who I am —
restlessness and searching,
sincerity and pain,
faith, hope, love,
your magnificent counter-suspicion —
you never can divide me,
make me your double,
catch me
lying or calculating.
You\'ll never be the executioner of my conscience,
you don\'t have a choice
bill to swallow my joy
or, at times, my sadness.
You, my enemy,
my infertile neighbor
so different and inhuman
unable to break loose
to become insane or to commit suicide,
I can tell
I wore you out,
your tail is between your legs
but this is only an outline.
of my revenge:
my true revenge
is a poem.
You will never know me,
your ears have no light,
will be hushed by the passage of time
while I am a tongue-flame
fire
that will never cease to bum
and scorch.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère