what gas they don’t want to tell

a single man's black shoe slides past on the luggage belt. some boxes. grey. full or empty. fear. the exposure of poverty. the sense of catastrophe. collapse. an understanding that comes too late. an animal rather. a rent that goes too deep. to see the world from two angles. to bear difference. tension. that ends in catastrophe. or is covered up by catastrophe. i am in pain. in every movement. word. difference or estrangement. without end. and without mercy. sound and fury of history. and the sense of powerlessness. you are not a foreigner to me. arrival halls, automatic doors. sounds. a total experience. frequency bands. many antennas. the very nervous system of television. side sounds. this exposed situation. series. entrances. the blows to the throat. in the throat. small and large nations. value systems. a single man's black shoe slides past on the luggage belt. i could cry. from the strain. the shoe continues on its way. the boxes. the silence in the night. i tried to cut into it. could he hear me? refugee countries. was he sleeping? small nations with high walls. globes on the tables. clocks. projections of clocks on the walls. foreign women. drunken men. transit halls. glostrup. so this is where I was born. my native country. or through the state's actions. the right to defend oneself. the imperative. the bridge in the horizon. they had no idea what hit them. occupied territory. it's like the autumn storm. he is just there.lowlands. flat horizons. delays. saint or beast. for passivity. incorrect actions. the blue lights in the ground. reduce. diminish. exact sequences. oblivion. lit-up train carriages in the shunting yard. the cramped space. tv-channels. plateaus. directions in space. the cube feeling. correct proportions. or proportions at all. the words. their backgrounds. a dark room. dark journey. the swedish-danish border. i wonder if we shouldn't just try to do it again today. the bridge in the horizon. the tall silhouette. to alter the movement. material exhaustion. the eyes' weakness. airport. security zone.zakayev took part in a congress for exile chechens in copenhagen. this meeting in the midst of the ongoing hostage crisis in moscow has got the russian leadership agitated.zakayev has now been detained for 13 days. which has provided the danish authorities and government with a degree of respite. the rails. the betrayal. in national terms. you aren't better. western union. black and yellow. does the world ever happen to you.exchange. money. danger. to have left. to be able to leave. to be excluded. justice. newly revised boundaries. visa management. history now

From Material (Bonniers, 2010)
Translation: Frank Perry

Also read Damaskusstaden

Artist-in-residence October 2012