My younger brother bill is clutching his teddy bear, the noose still knotted around its neck. My older brother John and I sit on a carpeted step in the front hallway as the gray-haired babysitter with crooked brown teeth informs us that the Melungeons will get us for having hung the bear from the upstairs landing, just out of Bill's reach in the downstairs hall.
"What's the Melungeons?" I ask.
"The Melungeons has got six fingers on each hand," she says. "They grab mean little chilrun and carry them off to their caves in the cliffs outside of town."
John and I glance at each other uneasily.
When my parents get home from their tea dance at the country club, John and I wait for Bill to tell on us, but he doesn't. He's a good kid. The Melungeons won't be interested in him when they arrive.
In her silvery cocktail dress and the spike heels that make her look like a toe dancer, my mother is very glamorous. The top of her head comes to my father's chest. He's the tallest man we know. He claims he has race-horse ankles. He's madly in love with my mother and is always coming up with corny new ways to tell her so.
Tonight, right in front of the babysitter, he says, "Kids, isn't your mother just as pretty as a carnival queen at a county fair? If I put herin a pageant, she'd win the four-hundred-pound hog. But how would I get it home?"
Lisa Alther (Kingsport, 23 juli 1944)
De Duitse dichteres en schrijfster Irina Liebmann werd geboren op 23 juli 1943 in Moskou. In 1945 verhuisde haar familie naar Oost-Berlijn. Haar vader werd in 1953 uit de SED gezet. Liebmann zelf studeerde in 1966 af in sinologie. Van 1967 tot 1875 was zij redactrice bij het tijdschrift Deutsche Außenpolitik. Vanaf 1975 begon zij als zelfstandig schrijfster te werken: reportages, hoorspelen, romans, gedichten. In toenemende mate ontevreden met de DDR, besloot zij met haar familie in 1988 naar West-Berlijn te verhuizen.
Seit dem siebzehnten Juni
Seit dem siebzehnten Juni ist wieder Bewegung, seit
Die Truppen abziehen gehen
Wir selber herum in der Stadt so wie
in der Neunten-November-Nacht
Als sich alles geändert hat. Morgens Siegesallee, wo
Die Amerikaner Franzosen und Briten
Zum Abschied marschieren, die Russen nicht, die werden
Am Abend singen im Lustgarten Unter den Linden.
Und wir laufen am Hackeschen Markt vorbei, an der Börse, dies
Gar nicht mehr gibt, im Lustgarten sind die Linden
Klein, aber blühen,
Sie blühen schon.
Das Schloss aus Plastikfolie sperrt
Den Blick nach Süden ab
Paar Regentropfen fallen und die kleinen
Linden halten den Regen nicht ab.
Das Alte Museum ist verstellt von einem Bühnenkasten,
aus Stoff und Stangen, die alles versperrn, sogar die Adler, die
täglich sonst dort auf dem Dache sitzen.
Die achtzehn grossen Adler aus Stein sind für heute verschwunden
Dafür
Steht rechts und links von dem Bühnenkasten ein
Gewaltiges Telefon. Es ist auf Stoff gemalt und in jedem leuchtet
Ein Bildschirm, darin laufen Filme über es selbst, also über
Ein tragbares Telefon.
Irina Liebmann (Moskou, 23 juli 1943)
De Amerikaanse schrijver Hubert Selby jr. werd op 23 juli 1928 in Brooklyn, New York geboren. . Zie ook mijn blog van 23 juli 2007 en ook mijn blog van 23 juli 2008.
Uit: Waiting Period
Hi, what can I do for you?
Well
I was thinking of buying a gun.
Yeah, well thats something we have plenty of. Funny how thats true of gun shops, eh? So, what did you have in mind, AK-47, pellet pistol, elephant gun, bazooka, bubble gum that is, what can I do you for?
Well, Im not sure, you know. I mean-
You thinking in terms of a rifle, a handgun, a-
Oh yeah. A handgun. Nothing big, you know. A handgun.
Well, come over here. Got a whole display case of handguns. Target pistols, semiautomatics, revolvers, 22s, 38s, 357s, 45s.
Damn, sure are a lot of them, aren't there?
Yeah, something for every need. I assume youre not a hit man, right?
Huh? What-
Relax. Only kidding. I mean you really don't know from guns, right?
Yeah.
Well, depends on what you want it for. Protection, right? Something to have around the house in case the moving men from B&E show up at XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />3 in the morning, right?
Huh, I don't-
Intruders. Burglars. 2nd storey men. Sneak thieves.
Oh
yes, yes. Protection. Cant be too careful these days, uh can you?
Thats right buddy. I got one each of these at home.
Huh?
Joshing man. Just putting you on. A little joke.
Oh yeah.
So, what do you think youd like? Personally, I think you should go for this 357 here. Good weight. Good accuracy. Plenty of stopping power. Hit a guy anywhere and hes not moving. Bet your ass on that. Here give it a heft.
Oh, I dont-
Hey, its not loaded. Comeon, Im crazy not stupid. Relax. Here. Just see how it feels in your hand. Yeah, thats it.
Oh, its heavy. I had no idea handguns were so heavy.
Yeah, they look light in the movies, don't they? the way they run around firing at everything that moves.
Hubert Selby jr. (23 juli 1928 26 april 2004)
De Amerikaanse schrijver Raymond Thornton Chandler werd geboren in Chicago op 23 juli 1888. Zie ook mijn blog van 23 juli 2007.
Uit: The Big Sleep
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.
The main hallway of the Sternwood place was two stories high. Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree and didn't have any clothes on but some very long and convenient hair. The knight had pushed the vizor of his helmet back to be sociable, and he was fiddling with the knots on the ropes that tied the lady to the tree and not getting anywhere. I stood there and thought that if I lived in the house, I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him. He didn't seem to be really trying.
Raymond Chandler (23 juli 1888 26 maart 1959)
Onafhankelijk van geboortedata:
De Duitse dichter en schrijver Sascha Kokot werd geboren in Osterburg in 1982 en volgde opleidingen in Hamburg. Hij werkte o.a. als boer, dagloner en fabrieksarbeider in Australië. Sinds 2006 studeerde hij aan het Deutsche Literaturinstitut Leipzig. Werk van hem verscheen in tijdschriften en bloemlezingen.
Das Abreißen des Schnees
Das Abreißen des Schnees
auf den Uranfeldern
lässt ein blindes Leuchten
zurück für die späteren Schichten
fahren ein in Stahlbeton
dünn bedeckt von Teerpappe
als es noch den letzten Planzoll gab
samt Kohle für die ofenlosen Zimmer
so brechen nicht nur die Rohre
der Fernwärme auch die Jäger
in den kahlen Ort herein.
Sascha Kokot (Osterburg, 1982)
