Click on a word below and add a sentence to the Peace Poem
all and everyone be suffering free, just feel the pain
אדמה
הדם דם אדמה
Women
כל מכל
I once thought I could do anything.
No more flowers in April, revolution is anytime
I once kissed somebody in April. Or: I kissed some boy in April. Later, he discovered he was not a boy, but a girl. She called herself April.
She was a skater boy, now she’s a skater girl.
There is no authentic form. There is only copies.
א
א
דם
Vor dem Anfang war kein Wort, nur einsame Stille oder ohrenbetäubender Lärm, keine Verständigung, keine Beziehung, auch nicht ohne Worte. Im Anfang wurde Beziehung hergestellt bzw. Gott schuf sie. Beziehungsweise. Und nun sind da lauter laute und leise Beziehungsprobleme auf der Welt.
Blood/Blut: It is re(a)d.
Jeg så hendes blod
Jeg så hendes blod, tyktløbende og fortryllende. Det var en dag i marts tror jeg eller februar måske. Hun så sårbar ud, med blodet flydende, strømmende ned ad benene.
Wir sitzen alle im selben Boot. Die selbe Erde, die selben Menschen mit den selben Gedanken und Bedürfnisse. Warum gibt es dann Krieg und Streit? Es geht doch eigentlich immer um Macht und Geld und Ausnutzung. Menschen werden manipuliert. Das Boot sinkt, wir müssen die anderen besiegen und vernichten, es ist nicht genug Platz im Boot für alle. Deswegen folgt mir und startet einen Krieg. Verrückte Welt. Heute denke ich bei Boot auch an Bootsflüchtlinge und Krieg und Vertreibung. Menschen fliehen um ein besseres Leben zu haben.
Boatpeople could be you
It is too late, the friendship is lost, but I’m still trying to see the matter from both sides.
But clouds got in my way
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all
(Joni Mitchell)
clouds is what keeps me from drinking milk
Sealand woman, she drinks coffee
Celan, Ceylon
sail on
dans le flux
à contre-courant
du côté de la rive :
toujours la plage imaginaire
avec ses parasols
en dessous, toi
en lisant
twig und branch verzweigen sich zu unterschiedlichen assoziationen
Brook bach bæk bekk broc pârâu bäck potok batis puro baruka
I inherited my brother’s watch/clothes/shoes/life
The Valley of the Bull
Baby, I’m a lost cause. I’m tired of fighting, tired of fighting. Tired of fighting for a lost cause.
Cause I need you.
Kinder die wir waren, bekamen, aus Vergangenheit wird Zukunft wird Vergangenheit
Wir kommen wohin wir gehen, wir gehen woher wir kommen.
in Kreisen kreiseln, in Krisen kreisen, Kreise ziehen, leise Kreise, ankreiden
Störe meine Kreise nicht.
There can be no conlcusion, there can only be confusion. There can only be a fusion.
Controversy is the title of a Prince album
A copy of this treaty will be burnt.
as soon as it is outdated.
There will come a day
30ca9c
Unterschiede bleiben unter sich geschieden.
Not to be lost.
In exchange for food she took my limbs, one by one, and it was something we both agreed upon
My father has cancer, but he is still here
And will always be.
My father had cancer, and we did not know about it until shortly before he died.
Thank you for writing about your father and his cancer, it made me feel less lonely.
i fuck him
Schönheit Ruhe und tanzende Eichhörnchen
I went to a forest during the easter holiday
The fruit was an apple and the apple was red and had red flesh, and it was called Red Love in English and Purpurapfel or Blutapfel in German
The future is unwritten and wide open. But it is not, we decide on the future, what we do now has an impact on the future. and it is not open. the future is in danger.
There will always be light, if you’re brave enough to see it. There will always be light, if you’re brave enough to be it.
Gold is worthless.
As long as it’s not involved in something you really care about.
Many things we value don’t actually have a value itself. We give them a value and bind it to a made up monetary system. It’s time to rethink some things’ values.
Schweigen soll Gold sein.
Alt Midas rørte blev til guld.
Enkel der Macht
Der Enkel setzt die Geschichte fort, er ist die Zukunft, das neue Kapitel.
The grandson is the continuation of the story, he is the future, the new chapter.
Für unsere Enkel müssen wir das Klima schützen, damit auch sie noch in Frieden leben können.
Many hearts together
Beating for the peace
Understanding our unity
But also our uniqueness.
Changing thyself
Changing narratives
Changing structures
Making change
Walking new ways
For peace for all species.
In harmony with our planet.
Peaceful living and watching
the sun and moon shine
Children grow and I grow old.
Healthy and happy poeple, Sharon this beautiful earth.
That’s what I want
That’s what for all hearts should beat.
Herz, vom Herzen leben.
Herzlich sein,
deine Herzlichkeit berührt mich.
Du bist ein Herzensmensch.
Danke dir dafür.
She made me fall in love with myself. And for that I am in love with her tonight
Many, many men are riding on horses, old and young, who have left there family and freinds at home, destined for fighting, full of fear.
Can House Music save Society?
When strangers are coming
They come to your house
They kill you all
and say
We’re not guilty
not guilty
Where is your mind?
Humanity cries
You think you are gods
But everyone dies
Don’t swallow my soul
Our souls
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım
Yaşlığıma toyalmadım
Men bu yerde yaşalmadım
wehret euch Bewohner
Laws can be changed.
from time to time
Nur weil es ein Gesetz ist, ist es nicht richtig, nur weil es verboten ist, ist es nicht falsch. Gesetze sind menschengemacht (und damit fehlbar), aber vor allem: häufig von wenigen Menschen gemacht. Es ist kein Naturgesetz, sondern sollte immer hinterfrag- und aushandelbar sein.
I hope you’ll write me a letter one day
Wir können nicht miteinander reden, haben es oft versucht. Es steckt zu viel Emotion darin. Ich sollte versuchen, einen Brief zu schreiben. Einen intimen Abstand zwischen uns zu bringen.
comes and goes
Each day I lose something, each day I let go.
war Frieden noch kein Wort
war Frieden Zustand
I have a lot on my mind, my thoughts are running like ants, and I would like them to unite and be more like a mind-horse.
Mineralien- verborgen tief in der Erde, verliere ich sie beim Laufen.
ich nehm sie auf mit jedem Schluck aus Mutter Erdes Bauch
rules the world
Das Wort Rabenmutter stammt aus einem Übersetzungsfehler. Storcheltern waren gemeint und es wurde als Rabeneltern übersetzt. Aber warum wurde es zur Rabenmutter? Raben sind fürsorgliche Eltern. Die Kinder ziehen von alleine aus, wenn sie sich bereit fühlen und werden davor gut versorgt. Arme Rabenmutter.
The German word crawmother(bad, neglecting mother) came out of a mistake of translation. Storchparents were meant and have been mistranslated as crawparents. But why did it become crawmother then? Craws are caring parents. The children move out of their own, when they feel ready. They are being takend good care before. Poor crawmother…
is an illusion
Nichts ist etwas, das sich mein Gehirn nicht vorstellen kann. Nichts. So unvorstellbar, wie die Unendlichkeit des Universums, die Unendlichkeit der Welt, die Unendlichkeit der Abgründe der Menschheit, die sich vor einem auftun, wenn man hinschaut. Unvorstellbar. Da versucht sich mein Gehirn doch lieber, verzweifelt an das Nichts zu klammern.
We are quiet
Ab da war endlich Schluss mit den ewigen Ausreden, die Umstände und die Zustände interessierten niemanden mehr , jetzt wurden alle Hindernisse überflogen.
After the disaster at the party last night, I am looking for other circles
Sometimes it’s better to block out reality and so from now on I just concentrate on the little circles on this one old silk scarf.
Befriedung kommt von innen – wenn wir zuerst einmal Frieden mit uns selbst schließen, müssen wir weniger andere beschießen.
Papier ist geduldig.
Suche Frieden und jage ihm nach.
(Psalm 34.15)
Der Friede-Fürst, das Fürchte-Dich-nicht-Kind für uns geboren, mitten hinein in diese Welt.
Power to the people!
Prejudice is no verdict.
Beobachtet fühlen, wie in einem Parnoptikum – einem besonderen Gefägnis.
Fangerne kan være fængslede, fangerne kan være frihedsberøvede?
I have privileges as a white man and I feel like I need to act more accordingly to it
I think rest is important, but I don’t rest enough – can you relate?
Welche Rechte sind unabdingbar? Was hält eine Demokratie aus? Sind alle Menschen, Tiere und Dinge wirklich gleich?
Once I saw a very muddy river – roaring and rushing
Catching a glimpse of a glimmering silver lining, but never fully reaching, never fully touching, never fully seizing it.
I found my sister crying one night. Her doctor had told her that if she kept drinking, she would die. The next couple of years, I watched her drink, because she was so upset she was going to die. One day she did.
I saw my son in the supermarket after many years. He did not recognize me.
Ten thousand trees will survive.
the upcoming events.
in the close future
Ten thousand Tivoli-balloons, 5000 of them Frozen-balloons.
Ten thousand writers, ten thousand lovers.
Are those who are making war driven by a desire to get more power or to win or to get richee?
Um grösseres Übel zu verhindern lasst uns ganz klein anfangen.
I’m not sure there is a way to don’t say anything.
Pillow. frog. ferry. wolf.
Pillow. frog. ferry.
Eine künstliche Umrandung definiert Gemeinschaft
I come from a very small village, but I live in a bug city
The verbal violence hurt physically.
worte können waffen sein. worte können aber auch trösten, heilen, verbinden.Mit worten können welten erschaffen und zerstört werden. Das erschaffen kann von unterschiedlichsten einstellungen begleitet sein. Welchen sinn wollen wir unserem täglichen beitrag geben? Welchen sinn haben meine worte in alltäglichen kontexten? So oft ich auch fehle, ich lasse nicht davon ab, mich zu bemühen, auch wenn es bisweilen zum verzweifeln ist. Auch an mir selbst zweifle ich. Vielleicht ist das die übung: den schatten des zweifels fruchtbar zu machen und immer neu zu beginnen?
PEACE POEM FOR MANY PEOPLE
— A RE-WRITING OF THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA, 1648
Welcome to Peace Poem for Many People – a collective text written by you and you and you who would like to contribute. It is easy to use the site, just click on a word, write a sentence that includes the chosen word, and send it into the growing poem. You don’t need any previous knowledge to participate. The net poem can be accessed by computer or mobile phone. It is designed to work in as many languages and alphabets as possible: You don’t have to write in English or German, you can write in any language.
The net poem is a lot about togetherness and sharing, and at the same time it works with concepts and programming. So it combines something very open and warm with something cool and conceptual. It transports fragments from one context into the making of a brand new text.
Please, respect the peacefulness of the project.
The 128 words in the Peace Poem for Many People are fragments from the Treaty of Westphalia from 1648 (which consists of 128 paragraphs). The fragments are chosen due to poetic and rhythmical rules and put in alphabetic order. The legendary peace treaty ended The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). In recent times, however, the »Westphalian system« – or the European state-based system – has been subject to controversy. Thinkers have asked the question: How can global environmental, humanitarian and socio-economic problems be solved, if the states dominantly pursue self-interests? The net poem is part of the project Westfailure at Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature, Münster, which has its title from the political scientist Susan Strange’s term Westfailure (The Westfailure System, 1999).
The different contributions to Peace Poem for Many People will gradually form a collective text of many voices, a choir. There can be many, many I’s in this poem, and the statements can support or contradict each other. The net poem is an experiment with borders between languages and singular voices. It is also an experiment with the notion of sender and receiver. The net poem is interactive, using the internet to revitalize the avantgarde tradition of mail art (with envelopes and postal service) as an alternative way of distributing poetry. Also, in the net poem, the hierarchy between poet and reader and reading / writing is reversed or displaced.
This way of working with poetry is inspired by Fluxus Art and the idea of ›art for others to make‹. Also, it is rooted in conceptual poetry, more specifically in the idea of pretext / text / post-text. The Treaty of Westphalia is the archive of this conceptual poem; the pre-text from which the fragments are chosen. The text is, of course, the net poem, which is based on, but very different from, the pretext. The post-text is the reading of the text which, because it is a net poem, develops and changes over time. This method works particularly well with historical material, because it involves a time aspect (before-now-the future). There is something hard about ripping the treaty in pieces, but there is also something healing in the collective writing process which opens up to new ways of remembering, mourning, dreaming, hoping and thinking of peace together.
Concept and poetic method
by Mette Moestrup
Graphic design and programming
by Tea Palmelund
Curated by Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature, Münster for Westfailure, 2021
Please notice that this peace poem aims for an inclusive togetherness. To provide a discourse in which everybody can participate, we ask you to communicate in that manner and only use non-discriminating language.
We reserve the right to remove any kind of spam or harmful speech and to exclude persons, who belong to right-wing extremist parties or organizations, belong to the right-wing extremist scene or have already in the past been or have already made an appearance in the past with racist, nationalist, anti-Semitic or other inhumane statements, to be denied access.
Peace Poem for Many People and the performance Westfailure were developed in the project The White White West? of Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Kunststiftung NRW and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.