Author: Nicolai Kobus
Translator: Tom Morrison
sitting i can’t keep sitting so long i’m off now. keeping my legs in the groin that’s why the mug but the stroke still right precise the left thwarted flight if i had to see myself my nasal bone could be seen down my lapels and trouser legs i need to get away from black shafts and nothing more than twisted i’ll leave you a polaroid |
Francis Bacon
Self-portrait, 1972 Oil on canvas – 198 x 147.5 cm |
imaging process so easily seen through remove |
Meret Oppenheim
Self-portrait: Skull and Ornament, 1964 (original X-ray) |
self-similarity i remember how between candles i sat triangular from the front my self-creation: at some point towards dawn a jeeeesus christ |
Albrecht Dürer
Self-portrait, 1500 Oil on panel – 67 x 49 cm |
Originals © Nicolai Kobus The three poems translated are the opening sequence of the series “bildgebende verfahren” and first appeared in the anthology Versschmuggel: portugiesisch- und deutschsprachige Gedichte (Heidelberg: Wunderhorn Verlag, 2009) All rights reserved |