a found poem
Part of the mission
of this way of writing
is to go down into the cellars
of language and unlock
long buried relationships
between words
"Im Verlassenen" is an invention
formed from the verb
verlassen
to leave, desert, abandon
"Im Verlassenen" means something
like in a place of essential abandonment
it draws to the surface
the derivation of Verlies
the word for dungeon
from verlassen
A Verlies
a place
where you
are abandoned
Found in Nicholas Spice's piece Up From the Cellar in the 5 June issue of the London Review of Books about Elfriede Jelinek's essay Im Verlassenen. Jelinek's essay concerns Elisabeth Fritzl, who was imprisoned by her father in the basement of their family home for 24 years.
Monday, June 16, 2008
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2 comments:
I read that piece in a hotel room overlooking the worst part of Istedgade in Copenhagen. It's the red light district. African men and women accost anyone moving through here and try to get them to buy drugs or sex. There are all kinds of cellars people can be in, I remember thinking.
well put.
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