A poem by Stefan Lessmann/
You’re drawing a line in the sand with a stick
from the line stones grow:
our wall to talk
I gesture behind my side of the wall
talk in circles, pause when necessary.
You gesture behind your side of the wall
talk in squares, no pause when necessary.
Around us grapevines grow and cover the air with their leaves.
You talk without break or meaning
elaborating and analyzing and demanding
I talk without meaning or break
shoe lace, ice cream, plum.
Our wall
makes us speak louder and scream
we’re both learning,
but I’m tired of it.
(c) Stefan Lessmann 2021
Image: Details of prints (mouths) from Donatello’s St. George (Marble, 1416, Florence, Museo die Orsanmichele), Nanni di Banco’s St. Philip (Marble, 1410-1412, Florence, Museo di Orsanmichele) and St. Luke (Marble, 1408-1413, Florence, Museo dell’opera dell duomo).
cf. Donatello und Nanni di Banco. Die Prophetenfiguren für die Strebepfeiler des Florentiner Domes. Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz,17. Bd., H. 1 (1973), pp. 1-28
HEARTLAND 