Static
In that year
that was not a year
when the days
were not like days
& the sky was bird-
less
we listened
for the sound of bees
& hearing nothing
but the wind boxing the panes
we began to hum & buzz & drone
becoming the grey matter
before words
***
Marc Vincenz is British-Swiss and the author of nine poetry books. Vincenz is also the translator of many poets, including Herman Hesse Prize winner Klaus Merz, Werner Lutz, Erika Burkart, Alexander Xaver Gwerder, Robert Walser and Ion Monoran. His translation of Swiss poet, Klaus Merz’s collection Unexpected Development, was a finalist for the 2015 Cliff Becker Book Translation Prize and is forthcoming from White Pine Press. He has received grants and fellowships from the Swiss Arts Council and the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. His own work has been translated into eight languages. Most recently a book was released by Tractus Arte Press in Romania. Although he has lived and traveled all over the word, Marc Vincenz now resides, writes, translates and edits in western Massachusetts.
[The above poem appears in Becoming the Sound of Bees and is reprinted here with permission of the author.]
As It Ought To Be 