3 poems by Delroy Ogadi Smart
Lucas von Narzissen
Drifting so lightly
In the rose-white pond of bliss
I see the vast and weighty world in you
I see myself in you a thousand times
I shall not think of you, dearest
you were my divine rose-hued palace
Your velvet-feathered hand on my bark
In my sphere we are one and yours
No roses
Light calmer and dampened scent I saw
His angelic voice draws near
The muse kindly takes hold of me
The ethereal hero kisses my eye lids
To him I would appear so ethereal
Did the Muse Tyche bless me ?
We, tender new Romeos, enamoured,
delighted in each other — gentle, trusting
We spoke in tones of sunlit bliss
Aletheia, let me linger in this dream.
On his body
His sand-gold hair smelled of perfection
like nectar from the sun kissed blooming twin-soul
A dozen times, I wished to die in bliss
Mars and Deimos melted within me
How urgently I needed him
The angel-screen whispered: four o’clock
His ember-warm magic stole my night
His tender hand on my young fawn-neck
so ethereal and frail, yet my shield
Angus von Narzissen
Es fließt sich so leicht
Im rosalilanen Teich der Wonne
Sehe die weite schwere Welt in dir
Ich seh mich in dir vertausendfacht
Ich sollte dir nicht gedenken Liebster
Du warst mein göttlich rosa Palast
Dein samt Federhand an mein Baumrinde
In meiner Sphäre sind wir ein und dein
Keine Rosen
Lichterlärm und nasser Duft sah ich
Sein engelsgleich Stimme nähert sich
Die Muse übt sich an mir aus
Der sphärisch Hero küsst meine Lider
Für ihn sähe ich so céleste aus
Muse Tyche segnete sie mich?
Wir zarten Neuromeos gefielen uns
Labten an uns sanft und trauend
Wir sprachen Töne der Sonnenlust
Aletheia, lass mich in dem Traume
An seinem Körper
Sein Sandhaar roch vollkommen
Wie Nektar des gold geküssten Zwitters
Ich wollte dutzend Male froh sterben
Mars und Deimos verschmelzten in mir
So dringend brauchte ich ihn
Der Engelsbildschirm sprach 4 Uhr
Sein glutwarm Zauber stiehl mir die Nacht
Sein zart Hand an mein jung Rehhals
So sphärisch und dürr, doch mein Schutz
Tyche is the greek goddess of fate and chance in greek mythology. Her roman equivalent is Fortuna. Aletheia is the greek goddess of truth, her roman equivalent is Veritas. Currently I’m writing a poetry volume (since 1.5 years) and this is my first time handing in submissions of my poetry. To me, poetry is reflection, fantasy, unfiltered emotions, lightheadedness, it is being vulnerable and standing completely naked in front of everyone for them to see into your soul and mind. In this poetry band, I wanted to talk about gay love, precisely gay black and brown. Its intensity, its pain and its beauty. The three poems presented are one of my favourites. To me it really activates the longing for someone or something. A desire or a thought that is so magically beautiful, one can think of it for days. A thought so powerful, it transcends all your expectations and I think that is beautiful, especially nowadays where our world is getting increasingly unstable. The way I write my poetry is heavily influenced by the beautiful people I meet and have met every day, my friends and my own feelings- this is what inspires me a lot. My idea always has been to connect expressive and symbolic poetry with mythical figures and pictures, e.g. greek mythology in a modern context, to create something new.
My writing and poetry is deeply influenced by the places I have already lived in and it reflects the emotions I have felt being there. My passion for Liebeslyrik and my interest in it existed ever since high school and manifested itself during my university years. Living in Paris really shaped my current poetry style in many senses. Wandering through the Parisian streets at night, I got inspired by the details of the city, its architectural uniformity, its coziness, its stressing fast paced spirit... I captured photos and drew sketches in my notebook and let them inspire me and I romanticized my idea. I let myself get inspired by all the beautiful people I met there, my beautiful loving friends but also by situationships and former friends there. My idea was to romanticize and at the same time show the truth, maybe uncover the delusion of it. I want to show the emotions, the questions, the worries and problems, a person in their 20s - especially a gay black man - has and how still influenceable a fragile young mind can be. Having lived and worked in different countries at such young age I think changes a young person in so many ways I can’t elaborate - I think that’s what my poetry reflects. Now being in Berlin and back in my studies, I rediscovered my passion for German studies and my undying interest in Greek mythology, a concept I always admired. I like to think that there multiple mythical spirits who guide us and let us discover life. With all these influences, I’m aiming to create something new, that I yet have to define.
