Venice masks

Tuesday, 6 September 2022

Twilight - Hanne Bramness

I would
                lift up my eyes
            see the evening
sink down into the light
descend on
                    words    streets I knew were there
       and grass
                      the room high up still warm
from the sun
abundant     unattainable sun
                                              (of no return      in its own
turning)      lingering still
quietly on birds' wings
over the city

                       and Rosa Luxemburg
    - for her part
                               would continue standing in the middle of
the street
numbering the stars as they came out
                                                                  lit it would seem
      by the birds
flying high
                    in the warm sky       the unfathomable depth
      of the eyes
counting        reading another day's end
into night-fall
caught
            between following the day's procedure out of habit
     and not wanting
its
     inevitable ending
                                  caught between rest and making
the moment last
between being impressed by - and making
an impression
                        unwilling to leave the mild air
seeing the grocer's boys and other boys running   
shouting out
                    into the disappearing light
and the twilight
                                     that opening
between work and supper and
                                        carrying the garbage out
       lovers leaning toward each other
imagining the air
       caring
                   in which day and night were so gently caressing one another

Hanne Bramness (born 1959) Norway
Source: Pages 33-40, Nov 1987 [available at Jacket 2]

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