Sébastien Bernard

“At the bar on the Favoritenstrasse, Julius the policeman talked to us about dignity, evolution, the great Darwin and the great Nietzsche. I translated so that my good friend Ulises could understand what he was saying, although I didn’t understand any of it. The prayer of the bones, said Julius. The yearning for health. The virtue of danger. The tenacity of the forgotten. Bravo, said my good friend Ulises. Bravo, said everyone else. The limits of memory. The wisdom of plants. The eye of parasites. The agility of the earth. The merit of the soldier. The cunning of the giant. The hole of the will. Magnificent, said my good friend Ulises in German. Extraordinary.”
― Roberto Bolaño, The Savage Detectives

“Im Schlaf

Er traf einen Baum.
Er baute darunter sein Haus.
Er schnitt aus dem Baum
einen Stock heraus.
Der Stock wurde seine Lanze.
Die Lanze wurde sein Gewehr.
Das Gewehr wurde seine Kanone.
Die Kanone wurde seine Bombe.
Die Bombe traf sein Haus und riß
den Baum an dem Wurzeln aus.
Er stand dabei und staunte,
aber auf wachte er nicht.”
― Ernst Jandl

“First the mania for confession,
then the mania for clarity,
issued from you, dark, hypocritical
sentiment! Let them now
condemn my every passion, let them
drag me through the mud, call me twisted,
foul pervert, dilettante, perjurer;
you keep me apart, give me life’s assurance:
I burn at the stake, play the card of fire
and win: I win this small,
vast possession, my infinite,
miserable pity
which makes even righteous anger my friend.
And I can do this because I’ve endured you too long!”
― Pier Paolo Pasolini, Selected Poems

“At the age of eight, I still dreamed of being granted plant status.”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984