Durs Grünbein
FOUR POEMS
From Tether 4, pages 29–32
THE FALL FROM THE IVORY TOWER
Always the shadows fall ahead of the towers,
Yesterday was the day after tomorrow. The leaning tower
Of Pisa tips into the future, it has for centuries.
It never falls, decrepit, unlike some family home.
Skyscrapers, towers of regret, of conceit,
Launching pads of money, but no ivory tower,
In which the individual sits, to ponder upon towers.
Arabic numerals. In the Orient, the calculations began,
Right? Then they moved westward along trade routes,
Devoured the landscapes.
What were you thinking,
Emerged from the subway tunnel, head cocked back,
Gazing into the steel blue sky over America?
The word Today opens up like a lion’s jaw.
SOLD OUT
Tether 4 contains Salomo Friedlaender’s musings on the work of George Grosz; poems by noted German poet Durs Grünbein; a poem by English Modernist Joseph Gordon Macleod; Erik LaPrade’s look at the peculiar papier-mâché works of Otis Burger; Mark Ford’s translations of two episodes from the draft of Raymond Roussel’s Locus Solus; an interview between painters Elliott Green and Catherine Murphy; John Reid Currie’s melancholic poetry; Paul Grimstad exploring the number 42; early photographs by Diana MacKown; Kreg Hasegawa’s curious short story; Paul Maziar’s look at pastry chef portraits by Chaim Soutine and August Sander; Barry Schwabsky’s recounting of an experience with the Farnese Sarcophagus; a portfolio of Paula Wilson’s vibrant paintings; Erica Van Horne’s prose poems; John Yau, Carol Szymanski, and Siv Støldal's playful bee keeper costume collaboration; and Francis M. Naumann’s unraveling of the fantastically cryptic Dada poems by Walter Arensberg.
Printed in the USA
Edition of 500
32 color and 34 black and white images
Item Weight : 0.69 pounds
Paperback : 156 pages
ISBN: 978069219455351800
Product Dimensions : 6 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
Publisher : Sienese Shredder Editions; Pap/Com Edition (2018)
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