IN THE SERVICE OF BLOOD
, December 7, 2022
Translated by Delphine Grass and Timothy Mathews
I no longer go on trips, really,
Because I know the place
And I know my rights,
And I’ve lived through rage.
In the service of humanity,
In the middle of the estate,
I know my bedroom well
And feel the night descend.
Angels take flight
In the glory of heaven
They will find God;
And the women have fun.
Tied to the table,
Sat in the estate,
The slow intensity
Of the relentless night.
At night in the estate
The slow immensity,
The cruel vision
Torn off from the sky
Of a shape that moves
Pulsating and red.
In the service of blood
The sleepy disgust,
The cruel ends of love
The blown-up bits of the real;
And all that for what?
The idea of a vision
The end of a song
Men losing hope
Waiting for rage
For exploding bodies,
Squatting, wounded,
Hoping for carnage.
I bring the ingredient
Of the final hatred,
My teeth are grinding,
Evil seeps in.
I know the tricks
Of a crushed flesh
I overdo it, I’m told
But I feel exonerated
By human suffering,
By hopes dissatisfied
By the dense crushing
Of superfluous days.
I am not serene
But I am at home,
Angels are holding my hand
I can feel the night falling.
Taken from The Art of Struggle by Michel Houellebecq, translated by Delphine Grass and Timothy Mathews, published by Alma Books at £10.99
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