Searching with words

Today, March 21, 2024, is World Poetry Day. It will be celebrated for the 25th time since it was first proclaimed by UNESCO in 1999. The aim of this commemorative day is to raise awareness of the beauty of language and at the same time to express appreciation for and promote the work of poets. The Friedensau University Library is holding an event on this subject - one of the few in the Jerichower Land district. I'm interested in the event, even though I have a 20-minute drive to get there. I can’t pass this up!

The foyer in the modern Friedensau library building is already well filled. Visitors interested in culture and literature are eagerly awaiting the upcoming performance. The author who will be reading today is Michael Götz, theologian and social worker from Berlin. The event focuses on his new work "Mit Worten will ich nach dir suchen” (With words, I want to search for you). Between the readings, there will be music from a concert guitar duo: Elise Thiel and Martin Lindtner (both from Brandenburg). They perform modern-classical melodies. The soothing sounds of their instruments provide space to relax and reflect on the poetry performed.

The texts that Martin Götz reads are characterized by personal experiences and impressions from nature. They are the kind of thoughts that unexpectedly tear you away from everyday life and invite you to pause for a moment. One of these poems stems from a bike ride, where the poet stops at a meadow of flowers and is suddenly overwhelmed by memories of his mother. He imagines how she found happiness in the small wonders of nature. Another poem focuses on the almost indescribable allure of the idyllic beach landscape of the island of Sylt at dusk.

But it is not only nature poems that characterize the reading. Current events are also addressed in the poem "Allerhöchste Zeit" (high time), among others. Written under the impression of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, it speaks of the urgent desire for peace: "Wenn sich die Welt zu Tode siegt / und ganz und gar in Trümmern liegt, / sich einer findet, der verzeiht, / ist es die allerbeste Zeit, / um vom Shalom zu schreiben “ (When the world conquers itself to death / and lies completely in ruins, / someone is found who forgives, / it is the very best time / to write about shalom).

After 90 minutes, the poetry afternoon comes to an end, and a lingering feeling of melancholy accompanies me into the evening hours. For me, the event serves as a valuable reminder of how elegantly language is played with in poetry to illustrate a unique mental image made of emotions.

Elly Opitz, student of International Technical Communication and Translation at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences | Image rights: Friedensau Adventist University | Andrea Cramer