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DAVID BERMAN/Actual Air (1999.)

Godine 1999. je David Berman objavio prvu i nažalost posljednju zbirke poezije, Actual Air u izdanju nakladnika Open City iz New Yorka. Zbirka je podijeljena u tri poglavlja označenih samo numeracijom od 1 do 3 ali to nije jedini Bermanov pjesnički doprinos jer tu su i brojni tekstovi njegova sastava Silver Jews. Nažalost, David nas je svojom voljom napustio početkom kolooza 2019., izvršivši samoubojstvo vješanjem.

Unatoč naprasnom odlaska Bermanov je trag, kako poeiski tako i kantautorski neizbrisiv.

David Berman: Actual Air (Open City books, New York, ISBN  1-890477-04-8)

David bijaše sin kongresmana iz rodne Virginie. Rođen je 4. siječnja 1967. u Williamsburgu, Virginia. Rano poznanstvo sa Stephenom Malkmusom dovodi ga u redove sastava Pavement gdje je i upoznao Boba Nastanovicha, uz čiju će pomoć i suradnju sa Bobom Nastanovichem i Stephenom Malkmusom formirati inicijalnu jezgru sastava Silver Jews.

Iako je često mijenjao postave, sasiav figurira kao jedna od okosnica američkog nezavisnog folk popa. Gbjavili su šest albuma i nekoliko EP izdanja: Starlite Walker, Natural Bridge, American Water, Bright Flight, Tanglewood Numbers, Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea. Napisao je on i više od ove zbirke i pjesama Silver Jewsa, ali to nije stožerna os ove recenzije. Spomenimo da je kod Davida uočljiv utjecaj Rimbauda i Withmana između ostalih, no to ne bi trebala biti začkoljica pri prihvaćanju njegovog poetskog stvaralaštva, naprotiv.

THE MOON

A web of sewer, pipe, and wire connects each house to the others.

In 206 a dog sleeps by the stove where a small gas leak causes him
to have visions; visions that are rooted in nothing but gas.

Next door, a man who has decided to buy a car part by part
excitedly unpacks a wheel and an ashtray.

He arranges them every which way. It’s really beginning to take
shape.

Out the garage window he sees a group of ugly children
enter the forest. Their mouths look like coin slots.

A neighbor plays keyboards in a local cover band.
Preparing for an engagement at the high school prom,

they pack their equipment in silence.

Last night they played the Police Academy Ball and all
the officers slow-danced with target range silhouettes.

This year the theme for the prom is the Tetragrammaton.

A yellow Corsair sails through the disco parking lot

and swaying palms presage the lot of young libertines.

Inside the car a young lady wears a corsage of bullet-sized rodents.
Her date, the handsome cornerback, stretches his talons over the
molded steering wheel.

They park and walk into the lush starlit gardens behind the disco
just as the band is striking up.

Their keen eyes and ears twitch. The other couples
look beautiful tonight. They stroll around listening
to the brilliant conversation. The passionate speeches.

Clouds drift across the silverware. There is red larkspur,
blue gum, and ivy. A boy kneels before his date.

And the moon, I forgot to mention the moon.

David Berman (1967. – 2019.)

Pojedince će možda zbuniti često spominjanje snijega ne baš znakovitog za Virginiu, prije za Manhattan koji mu je bio uporište, ali Bermana trebate slušati i čitati jer samo tako možete osjetiti natruhe prisutnog crnog humora. Mjesec i snijeg samo su dio autorove pozadine, kao i njegove dvojbe: za ili protiv oružja, republikanci ili demokrati i tako dalje… Navodno postoji nedovršeni studijski materijal ali još nije procurio. Brem tako tvrdi njegova udovica Katy! David je znano presudio sam sebi.

Ostalo ostavljam vama jer živimo u doba elektroničkih medija i doći do poezije ili glazbe nalmanji je problem!

SMITH & JONES FOREVER

Are you honest when no one’s looking?
Can you summon honey from a telephone?
They sat there with their hooks in the water
And their mustaches caked with airplane glue

O come let us adore them
California overboard
When the sun sets on the ghetto
All the broken stuff gets cold

Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever

Build a stage for Autumn’s bitch
They walk the alleys in duct tape shoes
They see the things they need through the windows of a hatchback
The alleys are the footnotes of the avenues

O come let us adore them
California overboard
Holding up their trousers with extension cords
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever

O come let us adore them
California overboard
Holding up their trousers with extension cords

Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever!
Smith and Jones forever, together forever and ever

Po primitku zbirke poštom, uoćio sam natpis “db” znajući što znači, mada sam u mailu potvrde primitka ipak to zapitao. Uzvratio mi je zahvalom i napomenom da je tek mali broj knjiga dan u prodaju. Poklonjene primjerke nisam spominjao!

PS. Srebreni Židov je žargonski naziv za amerićke aškenazi  Židove koje karakterizira blijeda put i često svijezla kosa.