ANOTHER GREAT UNHOMING by Caroline Bergvall
I dont know
how to measure
intervals, moments,
the passing of time
how to measure isolation
its intervals moments instances
nor the velocity of sudden waves
open channels
of temporal flow
*
Night
seems to fall
now
for 12 hours at a time
from 5 to 5
from 6 to 6
from now to now
from cry to cry
then it falls
deeper
for another
twelve
hours
from 5 to 5
or 6 to 6
from now to now
hand to hand
fever to fever
from a to b
*
How do I get
from a to b
a to base
a to u
u to base
u to be (x4)
c u to b see
a b c u
makes a start
x to y
a to aide
aide to base
*
base to brr
base to brr
to breathe
base to br
like arbr
breathe like arbr
arborescent
*
base to breath
breath to base
hh arbour
arbouring
brrr
brbr
h h
arbouring
find base
aide to base
at root
who
are we
our own
brbr
ians
find base
hh arbours
another
great
unhoming
*
so long as I’m
breathing
and and counting
bridges chasms
inter
bridges
infra
breaths
from i
to isolates
one
two
these are the things
on everybodys mind
one, step in front of the other
one, day after another
one, person at a time,
one, dont get sick, two, what happens next
one, two, one, two
and tiredness, lethargy, a continuous slow hum of panic as it sickens inside,
*
I dont know,
how to measure distances
between points
moving surfaces in the dark
the size of a room
of a gesture
ripples of being
in these paralysed spaces
each we
inhabit
*
what shelters
what shelter shelters
what shelter unshelters
how sheltered
who’s sheltered
*
I look for base, a starting point
the foot the bed,
a long foundational sleep
*
shhhh
sh pa
French, don’t know
upside or down
don’t know
cloud suspended
not stranded yet a ne’r mooring
ship carved outside-in
anyone can see
it’s upside we’re upside
down done deal d’dans d’hors
or stalactites suspended from a lowering cave
*
sshh sshhh pas
calm down
I dont know,
now that the road ahead is blocked
what follows from today
how to go back
Like one might say,
she goes back home you’re back! you’re here!
like one might say, slowly life goes back
to normal
dont know, never knew
what this means
but fear
xclusion
*
I
makes a compass
out of standing
still
stay still
come to st
ay
and
st
ill
the sky and room
revolve around
a crown of head
is
a standing north
star
stay
st to e
luminates
x makes a st
ep
a star
t
*
brr-
th-
I take
two sounds
for measuring tools
continuants
stretch in time
can be tuned
to a chanting walking
hymn
ohmy ohmy ohmy ohmy
ohmy ohmy ohmy ohmy
ohmy ohmy ohmy ohmy
ohmy ohmy ohmy ohmy
remembers
outdoor temporalities
plosives reflect
interruptions
activity
breaking for water
just like
jum
ping!
*
Go back to find
that nothing’s left
of what once knew.
It’s all here yet all gone.
Everybodys here
yet there’s no-one around.
Venture out.
Cries of grief tear up the evening
at regular intervals
Board up
and wait.
*
If the road ahead is blocked
how to move forward
sideways interways
*
Take the long view
a capacity to think
in patterns
in systems
tents and beehives
a to k educate
*
Outside years
since I witnessed
as I have this year
frost fields in April
large birds on marshes
seasonal stretches
call me out
a strange yonder yodl
swoops
through the cl
earing
air
*
Want for a tree
at the centre of the world
ringed in grapes of heavy blossoms
micro soundings so
indelibly soft
to the eye to the touch to the heart
fill me
with lightness and pleasure
and love
wonder how it feels
to live each day
sound to sound, skin to skin
call to call
according to such an invitation
April - May 2020