GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT

GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT

CELESTIAL IMAGE

Against the blue vault of sky

the clouds painted

white on white

their ephemeral images.

Could they be signs

—or nothing more

than a mere delight for the eye?

SIGNS OF LIGHT

In the eyes

a glister of moonlight

a soft breeze

like sometimes a word

a hand gesture

or an embrace

a glimmer of light,

things for the heart.

DON’T COUNT ME AMONG THE ALMONDS

Make me bitter,

count me with the almonds

—Paul Celan

Don’t count me among them,

don’t count me

with what was bitter

or too dark.

Don’t count me among the bitter almonds.

Give me,

when the night is too dark,

the light of the stars

and the hope of dawn,

the poppy of dreams.

TRANSLATION– STANLEY BARKAN

GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT

GERMAIN DROOGENBROODT, is a Belgian (Flemish) poet living in Spain, translator, publisher and promoter of international poetry. He received many international awards and is yearly invited at the most prestigious international poetry festivals, nominated in 2017 for the Nobel Prize of Literature. He wrote short stories, literary critics, 13 books of poetry and translated over 35 collections of international poetry. His own poetry collections have been published so far in 29 countries. He is editor of POINT Editions (founded 1984 in Belgium), president of Fundación Cultural Ithaca (Spain), vice president of the Mihai Eminescu Academy (Romania) and co-founder of JUNPA (Japan Universal Poets Association. He publishes weekly (in more than 20 languages) the Poem of the Week, international poetry, sent to over 14.000 readers all over the world. The Indian poet-publisher Thachom Poyil Rajeevan compared his philosophical, TAO and ZEN-inspired poetry with the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore whereas in Spain his poetry has been compared with Juan Ramón Jimenez. According to Chinese critics his poetry is TAO and ZEN.