by Andrew Herm (’15)
Abstract:
One of my intentions when writing these poems was to meditate on places that exist on borders and, from a position of the present, to mediate between the past and future: both settings sit at tension points between cultures, languages, and collective memories.1 Both poems also, in their own way, are busy with the act of making or re-making: the street signs in towns passed back-and-forth between nation-states; the existence or construction of borders; the simple process of making soap; washing. Ultimately, the dialectical interplay between considering, (re-)imagining, acting, and creating provides an opportunity for us to use the raw materials of the past to attempt to invent a future we want to see.
1: Děčín (or Tetschen, in German) is a Czech city located near the border with the German state of Saxony. Nablus is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem.
Děčín
The Germans have given up
trying to pronounce it:
Děčín.
The silent agreement
has been to paint
the blood over
with „Tetschen“
on the street signs.
What’s done
is done.
Still, at night you hear
their longing
to reach across the border,
to touch the sandstone
crumbling in their hands.
Nablus
The key to soap
lies in simplicity:
baking soda
olive oil
water
No fragrance after washing:
one should smell like a human
Let the white foam carry
the dirt, sweat, and blood
from the Jordan to the Dead Sea
and let it wait for us there,
receding, receding
Bio:
Andrew Herm attended MAPH with the intention to pursue a PhD afterwards before realizing that academia wasn’t his thing. After graduating, he left the country and hasn’t been back since.