Meanwhile a Pile
wooden crates from a chicken farm, etchings on cotton kitchen towels, ceramic pots glazed with ashes, woven woolen cords, ferments (nettle fertilizer, chickory kvass, pickled tomato, YADAM fertilizer with goosefoot, wild champagne with wormwood etc.)
I
[TOGETHER]:
Meanwhile a Pile and a Pile
Meanwhile a Pile and a Pile and another Pile
x4
What tickles the thistle, the nettle and the chickweed
To raise their heads and earthly power onto what heap?
Let’s sing the laws and myths and spells that make heaps grow and leak
Heaps do grow terwijl we netflix kijken, hot laptop battery on heated hip.
What alchemy of thought and skill is needed for a dagger to have pierced her witty head
Zij was wijz. Geen kwade heks whose care was for the crops and for the woven thread
„Dandelion root under a stone tapped with sea froth until the salt dissolved”:
The knowledge of the land does not expire, it’s best when shared and evolved
Komen hopen op gronden and do they stretch to burst
It’s time to name and lift the angry, earth growing-belly curse.
II
[TOGETHER]:
Meanwhile a Pile and a Pile
Meanwhile a Pile and a Pile and another Pile
x4
Foaie verde de cicoare,
Frequently she’s called a whoaaare
She doesn’t spare the land of hay and dung
Zij heet Georgica, zij is geen businessman
She’s fond of layers, earth like couscous and likes her livestock strong
When she gets angry, they laugh she can control the ebb and flow.
She knows chickory is better than most crops
She revolts so that the ground won’t end in chops
Georgica denkt dat ‘t moeras even rusten moet en wordt genoemd domwittewijf
She ties loose roots of blue cicoare on Drentse Brinken four times by knife
When they decapitate her, four heads will fall.
That’s all because she yells ‘vee moet grazen overal’
from Meanwhile a Pile, a song in 9 chapters based on Georgica by Vergilius
written in a personal creole of English, Romanian and Dutch
photos by Sijtze Veldema
more on ︎︎︎ intonature.net