a professor adapting Joyce for opera
he is mining for music
in Ulysses’s cave
where the white walls
loaded with black English
sparkle every now and then,
hoisting himself deeper
into a covalence of meanings
that undress silently
with their back to him,
tapping
his tongue-tipped pickaxe
on each shoulder vowel
and rib consonant –
an ear pressed
close.
now he raids Finnegan’s Wake
for buried strings of phrases
that he can carry off around his neck
and yet leave uncovered
in firm soil.
his job is dangerous
the instruments are waiting
across the sea
and we can be caved in
at any moment.
Stefan Kielbasiewicz studies English in York. He has previously lived in six different countries and speaks five languages. He started writing when he was fifteen and still cannot pick a favourite writer. He enjoys playing music and being outdoors.