A Poem by Ghrasim Luca
translated from the French by Jonathan Skinner


Ghrasim Luca was born in Bucharest in 1913. During and immediately following WWII, along with Trost, he led the group of Rumanian surrealists. In 1945 he published, in collaboration with Trost, an open letter to the international surrealist movement: Dialectic of the Dialectic. After a brief sojourn in Israel, Luca settled in Paris, where he committed himself to exhausting the tonal series of the language, playing endlessly on contradictions of sound and sense. In 1992 he jumped into the Seine. A deeply metaphysical, and deeply black, humorist, his works include: Hros-Limite, Le Chant de la Carpe, Thatre de Bouche and Paralipomnes (all available, in French, from Jos Corti Ed.).





15 Min. Meta-physical


Stretched out on the void
flattened against death
ideas stretched
death held above the head
life between the hands

Lift the ideas together
without straightening up
and at the same time bring life
before the stretched void
Pause a moment
then bring ideas and life back to their starting point
Don't lift the void up
keep ideas and death stretched

Anxieties spread
life held above the head

Bend the void around
twisting to the left
to bring trembling toward death
Return to the starting position
Keep anxieties stretched
bringing life and death
as closely together as you can

Ideas spread
trembling held slightly out
life behind the ideas

Lift stretched anxieties
above the head
Pause briefly
then bring life back to its starting point
Don't lower trembling
and keep the void way back

Death spread
void on the inside
life behind anxieties

Bend death to the left
straighten
and without stopping bend it to the right
Try not to move trembling
keep the ideas stretched
and death outside

Lying flat on death
life between the ideas

Lift anxiety up by lowering death
and pulling the ideas behind
in order to lift trembling
Pause briefly
and return to the starting position
Don't separate life from anxiety
Keep the void stretched

Standing up
anxieties joined
the void hanging loosely
on each side of death

Jump lightly on the trembling
like a bouncing ball
Keep anxieties loose
Don't tighten
any of the relaxed ideas

Life and death bending forward
anxieties held back and slightly flexed
before the ideas

Breathe deeply into the void
throwing void and death to the rear
At the same time
open death on either side of the ideas
life and anxieties before you
Pause a moment
breathe in through the void

Breathing out breathe in
Breathing in, breathe out


(From Le Chant de la Carpe)