The well of poetry is a remedy for soul

I promised my readers to publish, once again, my six favorite poems from the qualification rounds of the PSTC 2014. I give you three today and another three tomorrow.

The first heat included several strong descriptive poems. I think of "Dimension" by Flora Brovina, "When will you speak out, Ali Podrimja" by Ali Podrimja and the "Café poem" by Chris Hutchinson.

But there were no doubt about which poem I liked the most in heat 1. "April auf dem Lande", by Cees Nooteboom. 

It is a simple but yet imaginative poem about an April-day in the countryside.

April auf dem Lande, by Cees Nooteboom (b. 1933)
(Published in Litro #102, 2011. Translation: David Colmer.)

It was summer and winter.
The water by the river,
how it rose.
Mist between the hills.
In the valley the expensive villas,
shuttered, white and pink.
Fox and owl
hidden out of sight,
a work day for herons and mice.
And the man who loved women lonely,
not thinking about the birds.
Dew or rain
on the serrated leaves,
the call of a train
from the depths.
How many, he thought,
how many spokes in the wheel
of a single
day.

***

Second heat featured so many qualitative poems from experienced poets and newcomers. I got a feeling that the majority of the poems in this heat tried to make a statement of some sort.

I think of "Poverty" by Naomi Ayala, "Domestic violence" by Eavan Boland and "Love song" by María Do Cebreiro.

My favorite poem had that and combined it with sense morality and humor.

Let's break the chain, by Gabriel Aresti (1933-1975)
(From basquepoetry.net. Original, 1963. Translation : Toni Strubell.)

Let's break the chain
                Let's sing together
                This is a «fandango»
                Long live Berango

Like many others in the world
I'm a corn on the cob
Yesterday I got bored
With teachers and schools.

Because I am a poet,
I don't expect any heaven.
I have nine songs,
Four serious and five crazy.

The horns of the moon
And the twigs that from it hang.
I cannot forget
Your clear eyes.

Hail comes form heaven.
But where does light come from?
In this dark night
I see you clean face.

Red cockrel of March
Spreung up from nowhere,
Sent by a Jew
To alleviate hunger.

The sun, at dawn,
Has dampened rays.
The opinions of a Basque
Are sold at bargain price.

My granny said to me:
Your father is drinking.
Go to the pub
And fetch him back here.

The future of Basque
Is not at all certain.
The Jews walk the world
With much greater calm.

And if this is not the case
May they seal me in a pumpkin.
Laughable are the tales
I have told in the square.

***

The poems in third heat had more emotions and some of them were also really funny.

I think of "I take you   let you" by Ingrid Storholmen, "At work" by Jürgen Rooste and the poem "Lunndörrspasset" [in swedish] by Beppe Wolgers.

But my absolute favorite had a serious tone. Michael McGriff wrote about how difficult it can be to leave a place. The poem "Iron" in full version is quite long, so I leave you with same lines that gave him 11 points in the competition. Full version can be found here.

Iron, by Michael McGriff (b. 1976)
(From Dismantling the Hills. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008.)

My blood fills with so much iron I’m pulled
to a place in the hard earth where the wind
grinds over the ridge bearing the wheels of tanker trucks
oiling the access roads, where deer ruin the last of the plums,
where the sloughs shrink back to their deepest channels,
and I can turn away from nothing.