6.10.09

Shorter days













The little September farewell piece from last
week got a dark brown addition - reaching over
into October ...














"den tagen geht das licht aus
und eine stunde dauert zehn minuten.
die bäume spielten ihre letzten farben.

am himmel wechselt man die bühnenbilder
zu rasch für das kleine drama in jedem von uns:
den tagen geht das licht aus.

dein grauer mantel trennt dich von der luft,
ein passepartout für einen satz wie diesen:
die bäume spielten ihre letzten farben.

eisblaue fenster - auf den wetterkarten
der fernsehgeräte die daumenabdrücke der tiefs.
den tagen geht das licht aus,

dem leeren park, dem teich: die enten werden
an unsichtbaren fäden aufgerollt.
die bäume spielten ihre letzten farben.

und einer, der sich mit drei sonnenblumen
ins dunkel tastet, drei schwarzen punkten auf gelb:
den tagen geht das licht aus.
die bäume spielten ihre letzten farben."

(Jan Wagner: herbstvillanelle/autumn vilanelle)


the days´ light is running out
and an hour lasts a mere ten minutes.
the trees were playing their last colours.

in the sky the stage set´s changing
too swiftly for the little drama in each of us:
the days´ light is running out.

your grey coat separates you from the air,
a passpartout for an sentence such as this:
the trees were playing their last colour.

ice-blue windows - on the weather maps
of the tv sets the thumb prints of the lows.
the days´ light is running out,

and the empty park´s, the pond´s: the ducks are
being reeled in on unseen threads.
the trees were playing their last colours.

and a man carrying three sunflowers
feels his way in the dark, three black spots in yellow:
the days´light is running out.
the trees were playing their last colours.


(transl. G. Paul)

10 Kommentare:

patricia hat gesagt…

It´s a beautiful piece, the dark brown addintion works wonderfully, it strengthens the delicacy of the soft colours inside. The poem is also beautiful, very accurate indeed. I´m in the south hemisphere, so here we are in spring: yesterday was the first day when of more light and less "darkness/night" (just a few minutes more)

jess hat gesagt…

Stunning! It has such a beautiful feel to it...

gerfiles hat gesagt…

Thank you... interesting how autumn here + spring there seem to swing together - here it was the first day today when one could feel darkness approach already at 5.30 p.m...

Robin Olsen hat gesagt…

I like the contrast of the strong brown and green with the delicate middle. Beautiful piece. I want to touch it!

Deb G hat gesagt…

The brown (and bit of green) really do make the other colors even more beautiful. I always admire how restrained you are with color. It is so soothing.

I'm really feeling the change of light in the morning. It's dark so much longer...

gerfiles hat gesagt…

Thanks, Robin + Deb... it´s no deliberate choice with the colours, I´m just a winter child... (+ admire generous use of reds + greens etc. in others´work...)

jude hat gesagt…

seasons and slow cloth so so well together...

gerfiles hat gesagt…

They do... through sewing I feel closer to the change of seasons...

Jane hat gesagt…

it is such a lovely piece and thanks for sharing the poem too.
I agree about the muted colours you use, it's often how I recognise your work :)

gerfiles hat gesagt…

Thank you, Jane... yes, it´s quite a close thing between me + the muted... when I look for clothes, I also only see the grey-beige-white - if I came along in a red jacket, even my closest friends wouldn´t recognize me...