Odile Kennel (born 1967, Bühl/Baden) sonorously and sensuously describes a present, which permits moments of transcendence even in its quotidian simplicity.
The prose and poetry writer, who grew up bilingual, has distinguished herself through her active translation work. From the French, Portuguese and Spanish, she has translated contemporary poets such as Ricardo Domeneck, Angélica Freitas, Damaris Calderón and Jean Portante.
to begin with, Aphrodite
was still there. I felt
stupid, can't speak Greek,
didn't know any of them. Then
...
yellow, its shovel so big
that the world fits in. It's the god
of all diggers on earth. This is the one they pray to
with every clack-clack of their joints
...
looking out of the window, reassuring yourself
that you exist, because the world
outside exists. Inside
there are books, perhaps the thought
of a child you never had,
...
there is no proof that we
swept in here together. Not even
the bright squares of the steep streets, that shoulder
horizon from behind the line of mountains into the
...