The bimonthly literary magazine Poetry newspaper published a posthumous cycle by Hans Tentije (1944-2023) in the January-February issue. He had asked if a week before his death Poetry newspaper wanted to post some of his poems again.
This cycle, which consists of four poems, features starlings, refugees, coughing fits, a friend and a dog – and echoes that make the starlings resound. In the last stanza of Tentije’s last known poem, a chair lies backwards in the tall grass.
I can’t help but see the poet in that. He doesn’t make a drama out of it, he doesn’t see anything big in himself: not an armchair but a simple kitchen chair. It is a very alive image with which the poet says goodbye. He will be remembered for it for a long time.
IV
When there is nothing left, only mist, sea flame
above the sanded-off last part of the inner dune
where the signs of the disappeared
keep burning, but gradually become more sparing
and on the verge of extinction
a gray and feverish haze that envelops the landscape
alleviates the loss and withdraws
the damage and dreary splendor
out of sight for the time being
If the vapor is soon dissolved, then the sunlight
grant the shadows their place again –
as usual, people appear on this farm
marigolds, poisonous lupins, stray thistles
and it still hurts
hanging over the branches of the cherry, no starling
who is entangled in it
a chipboard with a torn handle on the garden table
next to the path, one fallen backwards
kitchen chair in the tall grass
Out: Starlings (2024) by Hans Tentije, in Poetry newspaper