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Michael Farrell

Beautiful Mother

  • 1 Beautiful Mother | Translations: de
  • 2 creatures | Translations: de
  • 3 ' [from codas]
  • 4 ode ode
  • 5 burrito weather
  • 6 what goes around
  • 7 breakfasts
  • 8 like kaf- | Translations: de
Language: english
Translations: german (Schöne Mutter)
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Beautiful Mother

You’ve always associated the two terms together
partly due to your reading of Schiller; partly due
to your watching of Kimba. Kimba sublimates
his mother in the water. You’ve always thought
your mother a baroque figure. You go into the
forest. You make something from a tree: a book
a club. Material comes from the mother; also
happiness, and therefore beauty. The mother
expects love and finds it, finds it beautiful. The
son cries white tears, imagines them surf, a cliff
an iceberg with beer beneath its surface. The
book says tree or mediation; the club says tree
or mediation. The Virgin Mary is prompted to
speak by the movement of the baby in her womb
She speaks Hebrew: ‘הואבועטכמו ממזר’ – ‘He
kicks like a bastard’.She defines a kind of
democracy. Her followers meet with her at the
temple. Her son, now twelve, is somewhere
swimming, or sublimating his mother in the
forest. He is a kind of book or club. He starts
drinking wine early; he refuses to go into the
army. He has to go across the border to another
country. He works at a cement factory there
When the men knock off the women dance
with him. He’s homesick and drinks whiskey
Eventually he swims back across the border
The trees hang over the river. He can’t tell
whether he or they are happy or beautiful; he
sees his mother in the sky. The stars are heavy
dramatic. The army still desires him. There
is book and club mediation. His mother prays
for his happiness. He builds a tower out of
beercans and critics say it’s beautiful. So he
builds a whole city and people start to live there
practising a form of democracy. Eventually
the area is annexed by Spain. You tell me all
this, mixing art history together with stories
of your mother. You didn’t want to go into the
army either. But it was in the army that you first
found love. It was a secret you kept from your
mother. Your mother was not a cartoon, nor
was she a political or religious figure, yet you
mapped her, in a sense, in the sky. She spoke
about you quite differently. She said that she
had taken you from a tree; it was dark and she
hadn’t known exactly what you were, whether
text or weapon or musical instrument. That you
were a wooden boy was a complete surprise

© Michael Farrell
Audio production: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, 2014
Categories: mother, animals

Translations:

Language: german

Schöne Mutter

du hast immer die zwei termini miteinander assoziiert
teilweise wegen deiner lektüre schillers; teilweise wegen
deiner betrachtung kimbas. kimba sublimiert
seine mutter in wasser. du hast immer deine
mutter als barocke figur betrachtet. du gehst in den
wald. du machst etwas aus einem baum: ein buch
eine keule. materie kommt von der mutter; auch
freude, und daher schönheit. die mutter
erwartet liebe und findet sie, findet sie schön. Der
sohn weint weiße tränen, stellt sich vor, sie surfen, ein kliff
ein eisberg mit bier unter seiner oberfläche. Das
buch sagt baum oder meditation; die keule sagt baum
oder meditation. Die jungfrau maria ist zum sprechen
gebracht von der bewegung des babys im mutterleib
sie spricht hebräisch: הוא בועט כמו ממזר – ‘seine
tritte: wie ein bastard’. sie erläutert eine art
demokratie. ihre anhänger treffen sie am
tempel. ihr sohn, jetzt zwölf, ist irgendwo,
schwimmt, oder sublimiert seine mutter in
wald. er ist eine art buch oder keule. er fängt früh
an, wein zu trinken; er verweigert, zur armee
zu gehen. er muß die grenze überschreiten in ein anderes
land. er arbeitet bei einer betonfabrik da
wenn die männer feierabend machen tanzen die frauen
mit ihm. er ist krank vor heimweh und trinkt whisky
schließlich schwimmt er zurück über die grenze
Die bäume hängen über dem fluss. es ist ihm nicht klar
ob er oder sie glücklich oder schön sind; er
sieht seine mutter im himmel. die sterne sind schwer
dramatisch. die armee verlangt noch nach ihm. Es gibt
buch und keule meditation. seine mutter betet
für seine freude. er baut einen turm aus
bierdosen und kritiker sagen dass er schön sei. also er
baut eine ganze stadt und die menschen fangen an dort zu wohnen
betreiben eine art demokratie. schließlich wird
das gebiet von spanien annektiert. du erzählst mir all
dies, mischst kunstgeschichte zusammen mit geschichten
deiner mutter. du wolltest auch nicht zur
armee. aber es war in der armee wo du zum ersten mal die liebe
gefunden hast. es war ein geheimnis das du vor deiner mutter
bewahrt hast. deine mutter war kein cartoon, auch
keine politische oder religiöse figur, doch du hast
sie karthografiert, in gewissem sinne, im himmel. sie sprach
von dir ganz anders. sie sagte sie habe
dich von einem baum genommen; es war dunkel und sie
hatte nicht genau gewusst was du warst, ob
text oder waffe oder musikalisches instrument. Dass du
ein Junge aus Holz warst war eine totale Überraschung.

Übersetzt von Joel Scott und Sissi Tax
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Michael Farrell

photo © Tim Grey
* 03.10.1965, Bombala, NSW, Australia
lives in: Melbourne, Australia

Michael Farrell was born in Bombala, NSW. He has published several books and chapbooks, including ode ode (Salt), a raiders guide and open sesame (Giramondo), thempark (Book Thug), thou sand (Tinfish), enjambment sisters present (Black Rider), same! same! same! same! (sus) and a poetry comic book BREAK ME OUCH (3 Deep). Michael coedited with Jill Jones Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets (Puncher and Wattmann). He was an Australia Council BR Whiting studio resident in Rome in 2014. He has a PhD in Australian literature from the University of Melbourne.  

 photo © Tim Grey
Publications
  • ode ode

    Salt Publishing, 2002:

  • BREAK ME OUCH

    poetry comic book

    Melbourne, 3 Deep, 2006,

  • a raiders guide

    Giramondo Press, 2008,

  • thempark

    bookthug, 2010

  • thou sand

    tinfish press, 2011

  • open sesame

    Giramondo Press, 2012,

  • enjambment sisters present

    Black Rider Press, 2013

  • same! same! same! same!

    sus press, 2014

  • Writing Australian Unsettlement

    Modes of Poetic Invention 1796-1945

    Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

  • Out of the Box

    An anthology of Australian gay and lesbian poets

    Co-edited by Michael Farrell together with Jill Jones

    Puncher & Wattmann, 2009

Awards
  • 2010 Peter Porter Poetry Prize

  • 2014 Australia Council BR Whiting studio resident in Rome

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