Johannes S. H. Bjerg



Mirror Fragments*



chopped up words

and now not - the firm hea

ling of stuttering




there by the lone tree a path forks




not ageing in the mirror

the boy with the bird

on his head




it has the look of forever and oblivion the sea of grass




where the worms live

the sighs

of the Motherland




frost bitten the smile of the red headed girl all flesh




forever skating

in Breugel's painting

the ice keeps




they're in the book the outlawed saints




“Have no fear. I'm a doctor, you know”

the wind in

his father's absence




roots, berries and haste you know of evil




his father's words

in his father's voice before

Trotsky was exiled




for a long time she was just a voice wearing his mother's face




during the war

typos removed

all colours




faceless to himself his mother floats when loved




caught in her father's past

she dances

a flamenco




in a room of water it's love




not the saviour

just a man

da Vinci drew




a pretend bullfight and refugees colourless too




wind, water, fire, milk

a ghost teaches you about

Russia's greatness




there on the wall Abraham's guests




money on the water

after all they

're images too




Stabat Mater and yet and yet




immortality arrives in batches

I chose a century

according to my height**




light flickers and the walk home is long




The Great Schism

we were never

the same




from the depths of her handbag useless coins


_____


* Andrej Tarkovsky: The Mirror, 1975
** Lines from one of Arseny T.'s (his father) poems included in the film
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is used in the soundtrack




Johannes S. H. Bjerg: a Dane who writes in Danish and English simultaneously and mainly haiku and haiku related forms. 1 of 3 of the editors of Bones - “Journal for contemporary haiku” , and sole editor of “the other bunny - for the other kind of haibun” and “One Link Chain” - a blog for solo linked verse and haiku sequences. Has published several books: http://january-stones.blogspot.dk/p/books.html
 
 
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