Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

T. Carmi

LANDSCAPES

1.
One white bird on a green stream, two
and then three.
One electric pole, two,
three bushes.
More than this (roofs
and clouds and blades of grass)
is hard to count on a train,
and so I’m not mentioning them.
Actually, I think I’ll write
just one single bird.
Perhaps only wings.

2.
He stood on top of the tree
wearing blue overalls,
and sawed.

Suddenly his face opened wide,
his body bent like a branch,
his hands filled with air,
and he fell.

All this
I saw from the train window
after a lawn
and before a pair of horses.
I’m writing only
the fact that he fell.
I didn’t hear the scream.

LANDSCAPES

Close

LANDSCAPES

1.
One white bird on a green stream, two
and then three.
One electric pole, two,
three bushes.
More than this (roofs
and clouds and blades of grass)
is hard to count on a train,
and so I’m not mentioning them.
Actually, I think I’ll write
just one single bird.
Perhaps only wings.

2.
He stood on top of the tree
wearing blue overalls,
and sawed.

Suddenly his face opened wide,
his body bent like a branch,
his hands filled with air,
and he fell.

All this
I saw from the train window
after a lawn
and before a pair of horses.
I’m writing only
the fact that he fell.
I didn’t hear the scream.

LANDSCAPES

1.
One white bird on a green stream, two
and then three.
One electric pole, two,
three bushes.
More than this (roofs
and clouds and blades of grass)
is hard to count on a train,
and so I’m not mentioning them.
Actually, I think I’ll write
just one single bird.
Perhaps only wings.

2.
He stood on top of the tree
wearing blue overalls,
and sawed.

Suddenly his face opened wide,
his body bent like a branch,
his hands filled with air,
and he fell.

All this
I saw from the train window
after a lawn
and before a pair of horses.
I’m writing only
the fact that he fell.
I didn’t hear the scream.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère