Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Pierre Alferi

PART OF THE LANDSCAPE

the outsiders
lurk close by day and night     
nomads prowling
the city steps
the margins of the law        
stowaways or permanent passers-through the airlock
of the city are the sentries
(PART OF OR DEPARTING THE LANDSCAPE?)
door-to-door salesmen
jobless homeless
24/7
windscreen-washers beggars runaways
summer corn-roasters winter chestnut-roasters
seasonal workers from all countries
refuse collectors
sellers of fake or stolen or faulty things
dvds cigarettes watches glasses spread on foldaway tables
 
Who perpetuate secular local traditions
hawkers rag-and-bone men pedlars lorettes grisettes legal brothel workers
leaning on the barriers scatter in mobile points forming CLOUDS
 
on the pavements all along the iron fences of factories businesses
in the north mainly where the heavy infrastructure flyovers railway lines bypasses
offers suitably shadowy zones
unused places in-between spaces
near embankments
by service stations
in car parks
around worksites
at the few nearby café terraces
at the city gates territory must be defended
 
two English-speaking African women
three Slavic-speaking European women
one French-speaking African woman
two Romanian-speaking European women
two French-speaking African women
three Arabic-speaking Maghrebi women
two Albanian-speaking European women
 
take up position in places people pass
where you can advance into the light
and draw back into shadow
 
in bus shelters where users make clear they’re not clients
 
the policy was to chase them away
to fine them to hide them
 
how to be sure they’re adults and not vulnerable
to distinguish between lover pimp and exploiter? 
 
of residents’ petitions
of guard-dogs’ rounds
of mysterious disappearances
of night watchmen and barbed wire in bushes
of violence they are the first victims
 
in these precarious jobs
since the late twentieth century the tendency has been centrifugal
           (go walk further away)
will they have to flee into the forest                Rambouillet Sénart Fontainebleau
further than Boulogne and Vincennes?
 
A revolutionary act (according to Grisélidis Réal)
 
Rub me out! says the graffiti
 
the birds scattered by a warning shot
will settle
a little further away
 

DEEL VAN HET STADSBEELD

de bewoners van het buiten
elke dag elke nacht in de buurt
stropende nomaden
op de treden van de stad
op de randen van de wet
verstekelingen of permanente voorbijgangers in het sas
van de stad zijn de wachters
(binnenkort WEG UIT HET STADSBEELD?)
marskramer
dakloze werkloze
de klok rond
voorruitwasser voorruitwasster inzamelaar inzamelaarster
wegloper wegloopster
roosteraar roosteraarster van maïskolven ’s zomer kastanjes
’s winters op een vuurpot
arbeiders aller landen de tijd van werkzaamheden
vuilophaalmedewerkers
clandestiene verkoper verkoopster van namaakproducten of
smokkelwaar of gevaarlijke goederen
op klaptafeltjes dvd’s sigaretten horloges en brillen
 
Die de eeuwenoude plaatselijke tradities voortzetten
van straatventers voddenrapers cocottes snolletjes geregistreerde prostituees
die zich leunend tegen de hekken verspreiden als bewegende stippen die zich hergroeperen in een WOLK
 
op de trottoirs langs de tralies van de entrepots van de bedrijven
in het noorden vooral de zware infrastructuren verkeerswisselaars spoorwegen
randwegen
bieden gunstige schaduwzones
en terreinen zonder de status tussenruimten
naast de taluds
in de omgeving van benzinestations
op parkeerterreinen
langs bouwterreinen
op de zeldzame caféterrasjes in de buurt
bij de poorten moet je een territorium verdedigen
 
twee Engelssprekende Afrikaanse vrouwen
drie Slavischsprekende Europese vrouwen
één Franssprekende Afrikaanse vrouw
twee Romanisprekende Europese vrouwen
twee Franssprekende Afrikaanse vrouwen
drie Arabischsprekende Maghrebijnse vrouwen
twee Albaneessprekende Europese vrouwen
 
posteren zich in drukbezochte hoekjes
waar je een stap naar voren in het licht kunt doen
en een stap naar achteren in de schaduw
 
bij de bushokjes waar de reiziger ervoor zorgt dat men hem niet
verwart met de klant
 
het beleid bestond erin hen te verjagen
te belasten hen te verbergen
 
hoe kun je zeker weten dat ze meerderjarig en niet-kwetsbaar zijn
de handlanger onderscheiden van de heler de uitbuiter?
 
petities van de buurtbewoners
patrouilles van hondengeleiders
raadselachtige verdwijningen
bewakers en prikkeldraad in de struiken
gewelddaden ze zijn de eerste slachtoffers
 
in die onzekere banen
sinds het einde van de twintigste eeuw is de trend middelpuntvliedend
(ga verderop lopen)
moeten ze de bossen in vluchten       Rambouillet Sénart Fontainebleau
voorbij Boulogne en Vincennes?
 
Een revolutionaire daad (volgens Grisélidis Réal)
 
Wis mij! zegt het graffito
 
de vogels uiteengejaagd door een waarschuwingsschot
zullen zich iets verderop
neerlaten

Close

PART OF THE LANDSCAPE

the outsiders
lurk close by day and night     
nomads prowling
the city steps
the margins of the law        
stowaways or permanent passers-through the airlock
of the city are the sentries
(PART OF OR DEPARTING THE LANDSCAPE?)
door-to-door salesmen
jobless homeless
24/7
windscreen-washers beggars runaways
summer corn-roasters winter chestnut-roasters
seasonal workers from all countries
refuse collectors
sellers of fake or stolen or faulty things
dvds cigarettes watches glasses spread on foldaway tables
 
Who perpetuate secular local traditions
hawkers rag-and-bone men pedlars lorettes grisettes legal brothel workers
leaning on the barriers scatter in mobile points forming CLOUDS
 
on the pavements all along the iron fences of factories businesses
in the north mainly where the heavy infrastructure flyovers railway lines bypasses
offers suitably shadowy zones
unused places in-between spaces
near embankments
by service stations
in car parks
around worksites
at the few nearby café terraces
at the city gates territory must be defended
 
two English-speaking African women
three Slavic-speaking European women
one French-speaking African woman
two Romanian-speaking European women
two French-speaking African women
three Arabic-speaking Maghrebi women
two Albanian-speaking European women
 
take up position in places people pass
where you can advance into the light
and draw back into shadow
 
in bus shelters where users make clear they’re not clients
 
the policy was to chase them away
to fine them to hide them
 
how to be sure they’re adults and not vulnerable
to distinguish between lover pimp and exploiter? 
 
of residents’ petitions
of guard-dogs’ rounds
of mysterious disappearances
of night watchmen and barbed wire in bushes
of violence they are the first victims
 
in these precarious jobs
since the late twentieth century the tendency has been centrifugal
           (go walk further away)
will they have to flee into the forest                Rambouillet Sénart Fontainebleau
further than Boulogne and Vincennes?
 
A revolutionary act (according to Grisélidis Réal)
 
Rub me out! says the graffiti
 
the birds scattered by a warning shot
will settle
a little further away
 

PART OF THE LANDSCAPE

the outsiders
lurk close by day and night     
nomads prowling
the city steps
the margins of the law        
stowaways or permanent passers-through the airlock
of the city are the sentries
(PART OF OR DEPARTING THE LANDSCAPE?)
door-to-door salesmen
jobless homeless
24/7
windscreen-washers beggars runaways
summer corn-roasters winter chestnut-roasters
seasonal workers from all countries
refuse collectors
sellers of fake or stolen or faulty things
dvds cigarettes watches glasses spread on foldaway tables
 
Who perpetuate secular local traditions
hawkers rag-and-bone men pedlars lorettes grisettes legal brothel workers
leaning on the barriers scatter in mobile points forming CLOUDS
 
on the pavements all along the iron fences of factories businesses
in the north mainly where the heavy infrastructure flyovers railway lines bypasses
offers suitably shadowy zones
unused places in-between spaces
near embankments
by service stations
in car parks
around worksites
at the few nearby café terraces
at the city gates territory must be defended
 
two English-speaking African women
three Slavic-speaking European women
one French-speaking African woman
two Romanian-speaking European women
two French-speaking African women
three Arabic-speaking Maghrebi women
two Albanian-speaking European women
 
take up position in places people pass
where you can advance into the light
and draw back into shadow
 
in bus shelters where users make clear they’re not clients
 
the policy was to chase them away
to fine them to hide them
 
how to be sure they’re adults and not vulnerable
to distinguish between lover pimp and exploiter? 
 
of residents’ petitions
of guard-dogs’ rounds
of mysterious disappearances
of night watchmen and barbed wire in bushes
of violence they are the first victims
 
in these precarious jobs
since the late twentieth century the tendency has been centrifugal
           (go walk further away)
will they have to flee into the forest                Rambouillet Sénart Fontainebleau
further than Boulogne and Vincennes?
 
A revolutionary act (according to Grisélidis Réal)
 
Rub me out! says the graffiti
 
the birds scattered by a warning shot
will settle
a little further away
 
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
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