Worldwide day against war also at salon 12b

 Whatever small gesture, one has to do what one can to denounce the horrors of war in all its facets. A bunch of poets held a reading at salon 12b. Poems about old wars and new situations, an eyewitness song about 9/11, intimate readings about light and fire and loud performance supported by music... The next performance will be on 9/11 in Casa Louisa in Hoboken and then there will be the 2nd European Festival of Poetry September 17/201 in Antwerp, in the Permeke lbrary at 8PM. There will be a special anti war performance under the name of the Moorsoldaten.
The poets featured here will also be there...


 Here you see Fred Schywek and Bart Stouten reading the Hama poem I have posted before, the rhythm flowed apart and together, beautiful performance.

Here you see the current city poet laureate of Antwerp Peter Holvoet-Hanssen on the harmonica, one of the attributes which is always near at hand in a reading.

The first verse of what he will perform on the 17th...

 Pain of War

    (background: Flemish traditional: drie schuin tamboers, die kwamen uit het Oosten)

I  marched by the most abhorrent horrors to the youngest anguishing wail

From the 25.000 throats of Béziers – in solidarity with the Cathars

I swept over pyres – over blood and the stench in the streets

rimbombo, rimbombo, I drummed in the rue Rivoli

danced on a flamethrower with fixed-bayonet

with the 15-inch-Howitser hewing at the cold

over Brandhoek, Ieper, Hellblast Corner, no-man’s land

ay the muster gas scorched us off the world

I sank down next to G. E. Ellison, lancer who fell last

mixed myself in the intercourse and rooted

in forgotten graves – Solferino, time upon time