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Inquiry: second case study
“At the fountain” of Wa(l)ter <Benjamin>


between reconstruction
and recuperation
I kiss the mouth
of a marble fountain
and it (the object)
is freed from utility

how it vibrates
in an oblivion of centuries
from a mnemonic
foundation

the light  quivers
on the vault
as I plunge my hand
into the green water

a turquoise pool
of unbroken reverberations
where I drop an “òo”
an “àa-àa”
and an “èe-èe-èe”, and again an “ èe”

Òoooo àaaaaa
Èeeeee
Òoooòooo òo òo òo

Then I consult the oracle:

once upon a time a tiny little girl came to this fountain
to drink the water that belonged to Tanathos

the stream was cold
her nails became frailer and frailer
her glance dimmed
and her heart withered

(the guardian came to her and said that his shift had ended
that he was no longer obliged to fulfil that role
so he left the park and locked the gates)

confused the girl lost her balance
fell in the pool and sunk to its bottom
in the way a small stone would do

the waters turned her body blue
then turned the blue into sounds

I (herself) was a modernist fastened to passions
my blood drained in the name of a few memories
encrusted on the stone like moss and anchored to my heart like weeds

the palace where the fountain was
had been built out of the rock

I
stayed
alone at home
in a pyramid of silence
all enclosed in a chamber of records
(the collector ensures he will keep them in a secure museum )
not all tears stand for desperation but crying endorses consciousness
wwwwàaà(lllll)ttteeeeeeerrrr  waaà(lll)ttttttteeeeeeeerrrrr   wwwwà-aaà(lll)
teeer

a whole alphabet to describe
1) the number of tears shed
2) the cry itself
alphabets representing objects (tears are things)

but soundsssssssssssssss
staaannnddddddddddd    in the vooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddddddddddd

of insignificance

(they are the emerald cave).




© erminia passannanti