# 6 for the
AFTER series IT MEANS I CAN LOVE
I had G.Stein’s work in mind for two weeks, and now I move to Louise Gluck (& Valère Novarina as a guest star!)
First Memory
Louise Gluck
Long ago, I
was wounded. I lived
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was—
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved.
to revenge myself
against my father, not
for what he was—
for what I was: from the beginning of time,
in childhood, I thought
that pain meant
I was not loved.
It meant I loved.
“I’ve lived to avenge myself of being”
Valère Novarina
To avenge
myself/ yes/
this urge/
to get
revenge /against what was lived as the trouble with being born / this
discomfort/ like a cloth that is too small / it tightens the armholes / it
irritates/ it strips down: skin & eyes & ears & gums / it
infuriates from the seams cracks till butterflies in your stomach … / oui /
c’est vrai / j’ai des papillons dans le ventre and their wings twist and turn /
it’s charming it’s pleasant in the beginning / everybody knows that/ movement
generates heat and heat brings to the boil / just a question of time/ no need
of being patient / it happens with absolute certainty / it’s the announcement
of an overflowing / all bubbles / it’s the disadvantage of being born /
in
the open air the bubbles shatter and release an avenging gas / an incensed gas
/ not necessarily a laughing one/ and it
ignites/ fire is a strategy / a technic/ a tradition: the scorched earth policy
…. have you ever hear about it?
Except that for cinders : there is none/ nothing falling down / it goes
on climbing / goes higher it’s without soot / without waste / to avenge myself
yes / it’s never too late/ it makes a sad unloving story turning euphoric/ it
means I can love/
… yes
to get revenge
I’ll sublimate myself
A
partir du poème de Louise Glück et de la citation de Valère Novarina (« j’ai vécu pour me venger
d’être. »)
Pour me venger/ oui/
cette urgence/
à me venger/ de ce qu’on a vécu comme l’inconvénient d’être né(e) / cet inconfort/ comme lorsqu’un habit
vous est trop petit/ ça serre aux entournures/ ça vous irrite/ça vous
arrache : peau & yeux & oreilles & gencives/ ça enrage depuis
les craquements des coutures jusqu’aux papillons dans le ventre/ yes / true
enough/ I’ve got butterflies in my stomach et leurs ailes s’agitent/ c’est
charmant c’est léger au début/ or on le
sait/ le mouvement crée de la chaleur et la chaleur mène à l’ébullition/ juste
une question de temps/ pas besoin d’être patient / ça arrive de toute
certitude/ c’est l’annonce d’un débordement/ tout en bulles / c’est
l’inconvénient d’être né(e) /
A l’air
libre les bulles éclatent et libèrent un gaz vengeur/ un gaz rageur/ pas
forcément hilarant/ et ça s’enflamme/ c’est une stratégie le feu/ la technique
incendie/ la tradition terre brûlée … vous connaissez ?
Sauf que les cendres : y’a
pas/ rien ne retombe/ ça continue de grimper / de monter c’est sans suie/ sans
déchet/ pour me venger oui/il n’est jamais trop tard/ cela transforme une
histoire triste en une histoire euphorique/ cela signifie que je peux aimer/
…oui
Pour me venger :
je me sublimerai
Love is so mysterious and provokes much to be said and thought of.
ReplyDeleteI admire your interogation here.
I understood and enjoy your breakdown of its contradictions and conundrums...and power.
I wonder could this piece well benfit from a less linear device? Something circular or spiral comes to mind....but i am visually prone.
Thanks Jeffree! Yes I'm still thinking about shaping this text, if I could have it in a kind of cornucopial pattern I might be satisfied, but easier said than done!
ReplyDeletevery challenging first line / opening
ReplyDeleteto get revenge /against what was lived as the trouble with being born
I feel I want to travel the maze of possibilities generated here
I don't see how this ending - the sublimation - can be it
but maybe I just don't see what it is
where it is
where that goes
??
sublimate, sublimation, to be transformed directly from the solid to the gaseous state (chemistry) but also--through love, to get enoblement, to be raised to a "higher spiritual status" ( and the psychological hint of meaning is also suggested here of course, sublimation to avoid any self-destructive act for instance) .. In fact this poem can be read as the "too high" ambition and ideal of a teenager unwilling to deal with certain aspects of reality, who would be burning alive rather than accepting what he/she sees as mediocrity and compromises.
ReplyDelete