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i paint radiance
i paint radiance
around whatever needs radiance painted around it
without the coverage that it takes
without the gold that it takes
without the silver that it takes
without having what it takes
i paint it
and no one can take it from me
the child that is taken out of the safe deposit box
and is not going back
is beholden, has lost its lack of debt and is
no longer only
a gift
i soothe, abate, alleviate
your urge to
be a gift again
(only you)
the gift that comes before the possibility of the gift like
lightning
.
and the breast is
like a pyre
like an ocean
like a pyre on top of an ocean
the fact that gift comes before human
that human comes after gift
in the moment of blame
falling inward into their guilt
falling outward out of their innocence
people telling other people to get
over their feelings
and them being wrong
to be 1:1 with your feeling
when you know it’s not the only feeling present
in a given situation
not the only possible feeling
to be 1:1 with your feeling
even when you know it’s not the only feeling present
not the only possible feeling
in a given situation
let others be 1:1 with theirs
distribute small doses of hate to train the system
when the next dose arrives
like a diamond
from outside
from an unexpected being
all is good to go
the setting is there
ready to receive
i distribute small diamonds
in your channels
to train
to find the settings
etc.
what i mean is:
how hard it is to let others feel what they feel
how hard it is to let the feelings of others be present
in the room
without changing them
when you have succeeded in this, only then
should you greet them with your
hands cupped
accept them one by one
as they arrive like
diamonds of hate from veins of gold
carry them out to the woods, down in the ocean, up to the sky, into the kitchen
place them in earth
place them in water
place them in wind
place them in fire
put them in their place and say:
this feeling should never be changed
perhaps say:
let us cut this feeling into shape, make it shine clearer than
ever before
this feeling should shine in its setting
Ursula Andkjær Olsen (b. 1970) made her literary debut in 2000 and has since published nine collections of poetry and one novel, in addition to several dramatic texts and libretti for operas such as Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s Sol går op, sol går ned, and composer Peter Bruun’s Miki Alone, which was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2008. Olsen has received numerous awards for her work, including the Danish Arts Foundation’s Award of Distinction in 2017, the 2012 Montanaprisen award for Det 3. årtusindes hjerte (Third-Millennium Heart, Broken Dimanche Press/Action Books 2017), and the 2015 Danish Critics Prize for Literature for Udgående fartøj (Outgoing Vessel, Action Books 2021). Since 2019, Olsen has served as head of The Danish Academy of Creative Writing. Her latest poetry collection, Mit Smykkeskrin (My Jewel Box), was published by Gyldendal in January 2020.
Katrine Øgaard Jensen (b. 1988) is a poet and translator from the Danish. She is a recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the 2018 National Translation Award in Poetry for her translation of Ursula Andkjær Olsen’s book-length poem, Third-Millennium Heart (Broken Dimanche Press/Action Books 2017). She teaches creative writing and literary translation at Columbia University, where she served as Acting Director of LTAC (Literary Translation at Columbia) from 2019-2020.