A ROSE IS A

(Poetical manifesto)

a rose is a streetlight is a
figure skating dancer is a pennywhistle
is a thumb is a blueprint which
is the formula for a circuit is an
object is a train of thought is a hair drying helmet
is a coconut is a candlelight
is a fireball is a rose
is the white glow inside the flower
the one that drips from it when it dies

Johannes L Madsen, 1975

quickly i write
 � � �forward towards slow
 � � and after that
slowly forward towards fast
i write
too slow too fast
and vice versa
and write write and
write write slowly
and write fast and
write and write
i write
 � �  � �  � � fast and slow
write slow slowly
write fast fast
 but write write slowly
 slowly fast
and write fast fast fast slowly
write write write
and write and write
write write fast
and write write
and write slowly
while i write write
 � �  � �  � � write write
 � �  � � and write
 � �  � � and write
 � �  � �  � � write write
fast
 � �  � � and write write
 � �  � � and write
slowly

fast and slowly
i wrote i write
fast and slowly


Johannes L Madsen, 1968

i think of an image
with the smell of a poem

spell so green
as is almost not possible

gracefully write a girl
who moves
falls in love with her

builds me a world
of words
i walk into


Johannes L Madsen, 1968

she smiles with her nails
she speaks with her stomach
she thinks with her tongue
she lies with both hands
she signals with her freckles
she reads with her nose
she sees best with her mouth
she listens with her skin
she flies with her eye lashes
she’s busy with her heels
she’s quiet with her hair
she sleeps mostly with her back
she eats with her thighs
she grows with the children
she is with men

Johannes L Madsen, 1968

the snow is white
as tenderness
the silence tender
as darkness

the darkness is heavy
as the sea
the sea mirror shiny
as the sky

the sky is blue
as happiness
happiness is white
as snow

the snow is red


Johannes L Madsen, 1968