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person.
He’s a witness to the act,
he distances himself from it . . .”

someone
saw from far off
another person
who was killing you
La Terra vista dalla Luna
il porcile
a barely fledged youth
giovane di primo pelo
a kitchen boy with the burning eyes
of La Fornarina
clenching his buttocks
the rectum of paradise
    Â 
    too young for the noose
for a death sentence an amorino
consuming the shit of the world
one of the heroes
of Salo or 120 Days of Sodom
    Â 
    Created in the image
and likeness of God
Pier Paolo awaits
the day of judgment

The Philosopher’s Secret
    ich werde von Zeit zu Zeit
zum Tier–dass kann ich
an nichts denken als an
Essen, Trinken, Schlafen
Furchtbar!
    Â 
    this confession
came in the private diary
of the philosopher
    Â 
    now interpreters publishers
slave traders relatives
have sold
the person
    Â 
    it’s the revenge of his
famous assertion
(conjecture?)
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann
darüber muß man schweigen
    Â 
    a saying as common and as hackneyed
as the Mona Lisa’s smile
as the tongue Albert Einstein
poked out at the journalists

    Â 
    September 5 1914
I lie on straw–on the ground–
I’m reading and writing
on a small wooden trunk
(preis 2,50 kronen)
wrote the philosopher
today once again I mas——
    Â 
    things are so tough–wrote the philosopher
Lord take pity on me
I’m a worm
but with God’s help I’ll become
a person
and he wrote
that he’d have to take his own life
    Â 
    I’m going through hell
    Â 
    Lord may the cup
pass me by
the mind is asleep in the head
wrote
the philosopher
then he wrote that he was afraid
    Â 
    and now bad people
have sold the philosopher
and his great secret
that he mas——

like a boy or a recruit
like a million a hundred million boys
it’s all half-scary half-funny
like the tiger in the circus
or the monkey masturbating
in the zoo
in plain sight
of its larger brothers
from the vanishing species
of Homo sapiens
    Â 
    Wittgenstein served as a volunteer
on a ship called the Goplana
it was still sailing
between Kraków and Sandomierz
after the second world war
when I was a student
or maybe I just dreamt it!
the Goplana with its great paddle wheel
    Â 
    Der Wachschiff Goplana
    Â 
    In Krakau
Trakl vor wenigen Tagen
gestorben ist

additional uses for books
    large books and small
can be variously utilized
    Â 
    in the morning
upon waking
jump briskly out of bed
(don’t waste the day!)
take a book
(if you have one at home)
and begin your exercises
    Â 
    walk in a straight line
with the book
on your head
    Â 
    you ask
“which book”
this isn’t about books
it’s about balance
    Â 
    place one foot
in front of the other
do not move your hips
from side to side
    Â 
    set the book
aside

“which book?”
it could be Quo Vadis
With Fire and Sword
J. R. R. Tolkien
Der Herr der Ringe
(mit Anhängen)
Baudolino
An Ancient Legend
it makes no difference
it could be something shortlisted
    Â 
    walk straight
with eyes closed
stretch out your arms
to the sides
walk in a straight line
take a deep breath
    Â 
    [Wrocław 2002]

why do I write?
    sometimes “life” conceals
That
which is greater than life
    Â 
    Sometimes mountains conceal
That
which is beyond the mountains
so the mountains must be moved
but I lack the necessary
technical means
and the strength
and the faith
to move mountains
so you will not see it
ever
I know
and that is why
I write

March 21 2001–World Poetry Day
    around noon the phone rang
“today is poetry day”
said Maria
“I can’t hear you!”
“today is World Poetry Day, o poet!
it’s been established by Unesco”
Even Ionesco couldn’t have thought up
something like this! this is something (something)!
    Â 
    â€œPoet, I send you
best wishes on your own holiday”
said M. imperturbably
tomorrow is world rheumatism day
I replied and
sat for a moment to
put on my boots .