A poem written as redacción for Paratext #33 at Hangar. It has also been translated into Spanish and Catalan.
Poem as document, for Paratext#33, Meriam Ben Amor, Laura Ige, Anna Irina Russell, Marit Tunestveit Dyre, Sofiane Zouggar
This is a photograph of a heart
The hand holds the heart
The fingers tap out the rhythm
The heart beats in time
The hand recognises its name
The fingers work it out
Sound travels in waves
The hand screens the moon
The hand is holding a book
The hand holds the book open
The finger finds the line within the book
The finger reads the braille
The finger swipes left
The finger strokes a cheek
The finger strokes a cheek in a photograph
The finger strokes a cheek in a photograph on a screen
The finger strokes right
The thumbs write a message
Make out, make off, get off, get out
Thumb a ride, Thumb it in
The hands want to see more
Text me, the bot signals, text me
The hands cup the breasts, slide along the dildo,
The finger parts the lips, the thumb rests between the buttocks
The hand signals
flashes the mirror waves the flag
slits the throat chops the palm
fingers the palm presses into the palm
Now
The finger hangs up
The thumbprint unlocks
The button, unlocked, erases
The hand signals again
The radio speaks in static
Folds the message
The hand waves the flag
The hand is carrying gloves
The hand pulls on the gloves
The hand thinks with fingers
The hand thinks with thumbs
The hand parts the curtains
A face is revealed, lips pursed
The finger rests against the lips, perpendicular to them
Forming a cross, silencing the crowd
A plant grows from between the lips
Words grow wild like weeds
Travel on the wind
Fall amongst fingers
The hand picks up a pen
Scratches notes in the dark
The pen writes
Erases the faces on the photographs
The arm stretches
The hand unfurls (whose hand?)
The finger points (whose finger?)
This is where the bomb went off
The hand holds the gun
Stops the bus
So we can photograph the passengers
(The hand holding the gun is not in the photograph)
The finger presses the button, the shutter blinks
The hand holds the stone
Tests the weight of the stone
The hand throws the stone
Poem as document, for Paratext#33, Meriam Ben Amor, Laura Ige, Anna Irina Russell, Marit Tunestveit Dyre, Sofiane Zouggar
This is a photograph of a heart
The hand holds the heart
The fingers tap out the rhythm
The heart beats in time
The hand recognises its name
The fingers work it out
Sound travels in waves
The hand screens the moon
The hand is holding a book
The hand holds the book open
The finger finds the line within the book
The finger reads the braille
The finger swipes left
The finger strokes a cheek
The finger strokes a cheek in a photograph
The finger strokes a cheek in a photograph on a screen
The finger strokes right
The thumbs write a message
Make out, make off, get off, get out
Thumb a ride, Thumb it in
The hands want to see more
Text me, the bot signals, text me
The hands cup the breasts, slide along the dildo,
The finger parts the lips, the thumb rests between the buttocks
The hand signals
flashes the mirror waves the flag
slits the throat chops the palm
fingers the palm presses into the palm
Now
The finger hangs up
The thumbprint unlocks
The button, unlocked, erases
The hand signals again
The radio speaks in static
Folds the message
The hand waves the flag
The hand is carrying gloves
The hand pulls on the gloves
The hand thinks with fingers
The hand thinks with thumbs
The hand parts the curtains
A face is revealed, lips pursed
The finger rests against the lips, perpendicular to them
Forming a cross, silencing the crowd
A plant grows from between the lips
Words grow wild like weeds
Travel on the wind
Fall amongst fingers
The hand picks up a pen
Scratches notes in the dark
The pen writes
Erases the faces on the photographs
The arm stretches
The hand unfurls (whose hand?)
The finger points (whose finger?)
This is where the bomb went off
The hand holds the gun
Stops the bus
So we can photograph the passengers
(The hand holding the gun is not in the photograph)
The finger presses the button, the shutter blinks
The hand holds the stone
Tests the weight of the stone