About me:
“Literature was the passport
to enter a larger life;
that is, the zone of freedom.”
Susan S0ntag
to enter a larger life;
that is, the zone of freedom.”
Susan S0ntag
About life:
The day you know how a blue bird
The day you know how a blue bird
dreams
you will know the meaning of life.
you will know the meaning of life.
Veronica Marmion
La Lengua de Cervantes
(in Spanish):
(in Spanish):
ARchiVE
NEW YORK ROOM
Loading...
"Versus" by Adriana Farmiga
La Mama Galleria,
1.12.12 - 2.12.12,
La Mama Galleria,
1.12.12 - 2.12.12,
East Village.
NEW YORK ROOM
Loading...
"Tomato" by Thomas Ovlisen.
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery,
January 27, 2012 to March 4, 2012,
Lower East Side.
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery,
January 27, 2012 to March 4, 2012,
Lower East Side.
"31. I dreamt that Earth was
finished. And the only human
being to contemplate the end
was Franz Kafka. In heaven,
the Titans were fighting to the
death. From a wrought-iron seat
in Central Park, Kafka was
watching the world burn.
32. I dreamt I was dreaming
and I came home too late.
In my bed I found Mário de
Sá-Carneiro sleeping with my
first love. When I uncovered
them I found they were dead
and, biting my lips till they
bled, I went back to the streets.
33. I dreamt that Anacreon
was building his castle
on the top of a barren hill
and then destroying it.
34. I dreamt I was a really old
Latin American detective.
I lived in New York and Mark
Twain was hiring me to save
the life of someone without
a face.
“It’s going to be a damn tough
case, Mr. Twain,” I told him.
35. I dreamt I was falling in
love with Alice Sheldon.
She didn’t want me.
So I tried getting myself killed
on three continents.
Years passed. Finally, when I was
really old, she appeared on the
other end of the promenade in
New York and with signals
(like the ones they use on
aircraft carriers to help
the pilots land) she told me
she’d always loved me.
36. I dreamt I was doing
69ing with Anaïs Nin on an
enormous basaltic flagstone.
37. I dreamt I was fucking
Carson McCullers in a dim-lit
room in the spring of 1981.
And we both felt irrationally
happy.
38. I dreamt I was back at
my old high school and
Alphonse Daudet was my
French teacher.
Something imperceptible
made us realize we were
dreaming. Daudet kept
looking out the window and
smoking Tartarin’s pipe.
39. I dreamt I kept sleeping
while my classmates tried to
liberate Robert Desnos from
the Terezín concentration
camp. When I woke a voice
was telling me to get moving.
“Quick, Bolaño, quick, there’s
no time to lose.” When I got
there, all I found was an old
detective picking through the
smoking ruins of the attack.
40. I dreamt that a storm of
phantom numbers was the
only thing left of human
beings three billion years
after Earth ceased to exist.
41. I dreamt I was dreaming
and in the dream tunnels I
found Roque Dalton’s dream:
the dream of the brave ones
who died for a fucking chimera.
42. I dreamt I was 18 and
saw my best friend at the
time, who was also 18,
making love to Walt
Whitman. They did it
in an armchair,
contemplating the
stormy Civitavecchia
sunset.
43. I dreamt I was a prisoner
and Boethius was my
cellmate. “look, Bolaño,”
he said, extending his
hand and his pen in the
shadows: “they’re not
trembling! they’re not
trembling!” (after a while,
he added in a calm voice:
“but they’ll tremble when
they recognize that
bastard Theodoric”).
44. I dreamt I was
translating the Marquis
de Sade with axe blows.
I’d gone crazy and was
living in the woods."
Roberto Bolaño,
finished. And the only human
being to contemplate the end
was Franz Kafka. In heaven,
the Titans were fighting to the
death. From a wrought-iron seat
in Central Park, Kafka was
watching the world burn.
32. I dreamt I was dreaming
and I came home too late.
In my bed I found Mário de
Sá-Carneiro sleeping with my
first love. When I uncovered
them I found they were dead
and, biting my lips till they
bled, I went back to the streets.
33. I dreamt that Anacreon
was building his castle
on the top of a barren hill
and then destroying it.
34. I dreamt I was a really old
Latin American detective.
I lived in New York and Mark
Twain was hiring me to save
the life of someone without
a face.
“It’s going to be a damn tough
case, Mr. Twain,” I told him.
35. I dreamt I was falling in
love with Alice Sheldon.
She didn’t want me.
So I tried getting myself killed
on three continents.
Years passed. Finally, when I was
really old, she appeared on the
other end of the promenade in
New York and with signals
(like the ones they use on
aircraft carriers to help
the pilots land) she told me
she’d always loved me.
36. I dreamt I was doing
69ing with Anaïs Nin on an
enormous basaltic flagstone.
37. I dreamt I was fucking
Carson McCullers in a dim-lit
room in the spring of 1981.
And we both felt irrationally
happy.
38. I dreamt I was back at
my old high school and
Alphonse Daudet was my
French teacher.
Something imperceptible
made us realize we were
dreaming. Daudet kept
looking out the window and
smoking Tartarin’s pipe.
39. I dreamt I kept sleeping
while my classmates tried to
liberate Robert Desnos from
the Terezín concentration
camp. When I woke a voice
was telling me to get moving.
“Quick, Bolaño, quick, there’s
no time to lose.” When I got
there, all I found was an old
detective picking through the
smoking ruins of the attack.
40. I dreamt that a storm of
phantom numbers was the
only thing left of human
beings three billion years
after Earth ceased to exist.
41. I dreamt I was dreaming
and in the dream tunnels I
found Roque Dalton’s dream:
the dream of the brave ones
who died for a fucking chimera.
42. I dreamt I was 18 and
saw my best friend at the
time, who was also 18,
making love to Walt
Whitman. They did it
in an armchair,
contemplating the
stormy Civitavecchia
sunset.
43. I dreamt I was a prisoner
and Boethius was my
cellmate. “look, Bolaño,”
he said, extending his
hand and his pen in the
shadows: “they’re not
trembling! they’re not
trembling!” (after a while,
he added in a calm voice:
“but they’ll tremble when
they recognize that
bastard Theodoric”).
44. I dreamt I was
translating the Marquis
de Sade with axe blows.
I’d gone crazy and was
living in the woods."
Roberto Bolaño,
Translated by Laura Healy
"I want to stay as close to the edge
as I can without going over.
Out on the edge you see all
kinds of things you can't see
from the center."
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
“Everywhere that power exists, it is being exercised. No one, strictly speaking, has an official right to power; and yet it is always excited in a particular direction, with some people on one side and some on the other. It is often difficult to say who holds power in a precise sense, but it is easy to see who lacks power.”
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
“Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world
And the seven seas
Everybody's looking
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world
And the seven seas
Everybody's looking
for something.
…
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used
…
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used
by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused.”
Annie Lennox
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused.”
Annie Lennox
"I am transparent
and writing becomes visible
inside me
words in invisible ink
which appear
when the paper is held
and writing becomes visible
inside me
words in invisible ink
which appear
when the paper is held
to the fire!"
Further In, Tomas Tranströmer
Further In, Tomas Tranströmer
“ A God who counts minutes
and pennies, a desperate
sensual God, who grunts
like a pig. A pig with golden
wings, who falls and falls,
always belly side up, ready
for caresses, that´s him,
our master. Come kiss me.”
Journey to the End of the Night,
Journey to the End of the Night,
Louis-Ferdinand Celine
In these times, Insomnia is the fountain of inspiration.
Veronica Marmion
(she) stayed with the reflex
of the rainbow in a puddle
while among the solemn
while among the solemn
gold in the depths of the abyss
scraps of (her) heart were
scraps of (her) heart were
devoured by the dauntless
worms.
(v) eronica marmion
(v) eronica marmion
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
compose a sonnet
that begins with the following
iambic pentameter line:
I would prefer to die ahead of you
and that ends with the following:
I would prefer that you be first
to die
Nicanor Parra
"Poetry is braver than anyone"
Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño
La LeTrA de MeDusa © 2009.