Rozalie Hirs: verdere bijzonderheden (further particulars; Amsterdam: Querido, 2017) Official Video
Channel: Rozalie Hirs
Date: 2020-07-20

Rozalie Hirs - poetry (Nederlands), music, voice, film
Michaël Snitker - design

The poem ‘van roos tot enig glaswerk’ is selected from Rozalie Hirs' sixth poetry book 'verdere bijzonderheden',  Querido, Singel Uitgeverijen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2017. The music composition 'zenit' by Rozalie Hirs, published by Deuss Music, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2010, is performed by the Formalist Quartet. This film was made at the kind request of Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium, for their triennial Karel van de Woestijne Poetry Prize (2017-2020).



FROM ROSE TO SOME GLASSWARE


who drinks from you, flute glass, your colourless cup on a winged aquamarine stem
bent in a figure of eight, with wings on either side, like an angel, bird,
on a disc-shaped foot with a turned-up edge, pontil mark – rules between heaven
and earth, afterlife, words? who drinks beer from you like water,

cylindrical beaker – aquamarine through and through, with a punt base,
protruding rim – next to a breakfast of herring, bread? who sleeps it off
after your life – blown into a conical goblet on a ribbed stem,
winged and standing on a disc-shaped foot, toothless base

has briefly glowed orange-red? who drinks from you – cylindrical colourless glass,
with your ribbed rounded base – before an earthly or fiery return to dust?
who refrains from drinking – goblet, the slightly raised base on blackberry prunt feet,
your upper part and rim wrapped in aquamarine threads or voluptuously

pouting knobbly relief – to gaze at you? will your shards –
indifferent beaker, stem glass, cup, bowl with a cross or slanting ribs,
club-shaped beaker, Roemer of the cabbage stalk type – in the rain, rubbish
cesspool, underground well – golden-ager, always be translucent?




All rights reserved
©2010-2020 Rozalie Hirs, Uitgeverij Querido, Deuss Music, Formalist Quartet
©2020 English translation: Vivien D. Glass
https://rozalie.com/