2850117R. D. Wood is of Malayalee and Scottish descent and identifies as a person of colour. He has had work published or that is forthcoming from Southerly, Jacket2, Best Australian Poetry, JASAL and Foucault Studies. His first book of poems is due to be released by Hawk Press in September 2015.

 

 

Cento from Paul Celan

for Mervyn Morris

White, white, white
The whitest root
Of the whitest
Mime themselves whitegray
Mourning, gone awry

Black
We stand here
Black – a decoy
No admittance! Blacktoll
The disbranched archangels stand here

To stand, in the shadow
Your dream, butting from the watch.
Still songs to sing beyond
Count them, touch them
You – all, all real. I – all delusion.)

 

Note:
This poem uses whole lines from Pierre Joris’ translations of Paul Celan’s later poetry found in Breathturn Into Timestead (FSG, 2014). A full list of references can be provided.