Money/Poetry

As a follow up to Katy Lederer's statements about writing and money, here's Henry Parland from 1930:


Kiss a girl and eat cream with a fork.
(It’s never enough.)

*

Life is getting cheaper and cheaper,
and last year’s ideals,
now only cost 10%
of the original price.
You can paint the old wreck,
put in a few spare parts
and transport
people, suitcases and booze
for a decent fee.



*

Good Lord,
why don’t we
write poetry with money
like Ivar Kreuger
or Basil Saharoff.
They don’t give a damn about the Nobel Prize.
Tear a sheet out of history
and write a receipt:
received Europe
which is hereby acknowledged.


(my trans.)