Vikram Seth, Paul Muldoon, Kurt Schwitters, Jean-Claude Izzo, Silke Andrea Schuemmer

De Indische schrijver Vikram Seth werd geboren op 20 juni 1952 in Kolkata. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 juni 2009.

Uit: An Equal Music

„The branches are bare, the sky tonight a milky violet. It is not quiet here, but it is peaceful. The wind ruffles the black water towards me.
There is no one about. The birds are still. The traffic slashes through Hyde Park. It comes to my ears as white noise.
I test the bench but do not sit down. As yesterday, as the day before, I stand until I have lost my thoughts. I look at the water of the Serpentine.
Yesterday as I walked back across the park I paused at a fork in the footpath. I had the sense that someone had paused behind me. I walked on. The sound of footsteps followed along the gravel. They were unhurried; they appeared to keep pace with me. Then they suddenly made up their mind, speeded up, and overtook me. They belonged to a man in a thick black overcoat, quite tall–about my height–a young man from his gait and attitude, though I did not see his face. His sense of hurry was now evident. After a while, unwilling so soon to cross the blinding Bayswater Road, I paused again, this time by the bridle path. Now I heard the faint sound of hooves. This time, however, they were not embodied. I looked to left, to right. There was nothing.

As I approach Archangel Court I am conscious of being watched. I enter the hallway. There are flowers here, a concoction of gerberas and general foliage. A camera surveys the hall. A watched building is a secure building, a secure building a happy one.
A few days ago I was told I was happy by the young woman behind the counter at Etienne’s. I ordered seven croissants. As she gave me my change she said: “You are a happy man.”

Vikram Seth (Kolkata, 20 juni 1952)


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Robert Rozhdestvensky, Laure Wyss, Lillian Hellman, Nicholas Rowe, Carel van Nievelt, Charles W. Chesnutt, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Joseph Autran

De Russische dichter en schrijver Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky werd geboren op 20 juni 1932 in Kosikha in het district Altai Krai. Zie ook mijn blog van 20 juni 2007 en ook mijn blog van 20 juni 2009.

Small Man

On the ruthlessly
…………little Earth there was
once a little man.
He had a little job
and a very little purse
with a little salary…
And once –
on a beautiful morning –
there knocked on his little window
a little –
it seemed –
war…
A little gun was given in his hands,
little boots were given on his feet,
a little helmet was given on him
with a little
– by measure –
cloak.

……..And when he fell –
…………….in an ugly, ungainly way –
with his mouth frozen in the “hurrah” of the assault –
on the whole world
…………there was not enough marble
to carve him
life-size.

Robert Rozhdestvensky (20 juni 1932 – 19 augustus 1994)
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