eslund

anno 1956. frank o´haras lunch poems! det er 50 år gammelt det her digt, utroligt. jeg vender altid tilbage til det digt i bogen. lunch poems er angiveligt skrevet i frokostpauserne, mens o´hara arbejdede som kustode på MoMa. nu skriver jeg det ned:

A STEP AWAY FROM THEM

It´s my lunch hour, so I go
for a walk among the hum-colored
cabs. First, down the sidewalk
where laborers feed their dirty
glistening torsos sandwiches
and Coca-Cola, with yellow helmets
on. They protect them from falling
bricks, I guess. Then onto the
avenue where skirts are flipping
above heels and blow up over
grates. The sun is hot, but the
cabs stir up the air. I look
at bargains in wristwatches. There
are cats playing in sawdust.
    On to Times Square, where the sign

blows smoke over my head, and higher

the waterfall pours lightly. A

Negro stands in a doorway with a

toothpick, languorously agitating.

A blonde chorus girl clicks: he

smiles and rubs his chin. Everything

suddenly honks: it is 12:40 of

a Thursday. 

   Neon in daylight is a

great pleasure, as Edwin Denby would

write, as are light bulbs in dayligt.

I stop for a cheeseburger at JULIET`S

CORNER. Giulietta Masina, wife of

Federico Fellini, è bell' attrice.

And chocolate malted. A lady in
foxes on such a day puts her poodle
in a cab.
   There are several Puerto
Ricans on the avenue today, which
makes it beautiful and warm. First Bunny
died, then John Latouche,
then Jackson Pollock. But is the
earth as full as life was full, of them?
And one has eaten and one walks,
past the magazines with nudes
and the posters for BULLFIGHT and
the Manhattan Storage Warehouse,
which they´ll soon tear down. I
used to think they had the Armory
Show there.
   A glass of papaya juice
and back to work. My heart is in my
pocket, it is Poems by Pierre Reverdy.

btw: kustoders kedsomhed er interessant, ligesom kvinders kedsomhed er meget interessant. kustodens desinteresse midt mellem stærke kunstneriske udtryk, og kvinden, der drømmer/tænker sig et andet sted hen, når hun keder sig. manden/jeg tænker selvfølgelig banalt, at hun tænker på manden/mig. det er frygtelig erotisk, synes jeg, at se en kvinde falde i staver eller fortabe sig i sig selv/sine tanker. pigerne i filippa k butikken i kbh er særligt smukke, har jeg lagt mærke til...