{"id":303,"date":"2011-07-01T18:18:15","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T18:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=303"},"modified":"2011-07-01T18:18:15","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T18:18:15","slug":"michael-pederson-is-in-colmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/michael-pederson-is-in-colmar\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Pederson is in Colmar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colmar<\/span>
is a matrix of criss-cross canals, <\/span>capitale des vins d'Alsace<\/span>
and where, at 13, on the school French exchange,<\/span>
                          I met Elodie Mullan.<\/span>
All summer, would insist on <\/span>croissants<\/span>, slurp <\/span>expresso<\/span>
and defame Scotland with a fraudulent harshness;<\/span>

for I knew nothing of our propinquity to the Rhine<\/span>
or Vosges mountains, only that Elodie lived a stone\u2019s throw<\/span>
away and with craned neck out the attic window<\/span>
I could see her <\/span>boudoir<\/span>; where there <\/span>must <\/span>have been<\/span>
frequent nakedness.<\/span>

Our moments were few: sat side-by-side on a boat tour,<\/span>
locked hands walking through a rusting vineyard<\/span>
and were dancing partners for three songs;<\/span>
linked together like salted pretzels.<\/span>
  <\/span>
A photograph of us, in partial embrace, reveals Elodie, <\/span>
alluring as Julie Delpy, me, wholly disparate, in a Scotland <\/span>
strip with peroxide-blonde hair. The sky, like the shirt, <\/span>
ultramarine, whilst I blushed <\/span>rouge<\/span> from little-boy syndrome.<\/span>

I used to dream of returning a celebrity, with histrionic<\/span>
displays of extravagance. It would have been horrendous:<\/span>
white-limo, champagne, skunk, one-liners \u2013<\/span>
like something from a hip-hop video.<\/span>

Nowadays, I\u2019d explain how a poem is like a bomb,<\/span>
a bomb like a poem, when assembled correctly<\/span>
both explode rather than arrive, become <\/span>
instantly important; as she did and could again.<\/span>



*Michael Pedersen<\/span> is a 26 year old writer of Scottish stock. He has published two successful chapbooks (Part-Truths<\/span> and The Basic Algebra of Buttering Bread<\/span>) and has a full length collection forthcoming later this year. Allied to this he script edits for a forthcoming motion picture; has written a short play that will appear under National Theatre of Scotland and co-captains Neu! Reekie!<\/span> collaborative arts night.  Here is his website: <\/span>www.michaelpedersen.co.u<\/a>k<\/span><\/a>
       <\/span><\/font> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colmaris a matrix of criss-cross canals, capitale des vins d'Alsaceand where, at 13, on the school French exchange,                          I met Elodie Mullan.All summer, would insist on croissants, slurp expressoand defame Scotland with a fraudulent harshness;for I knew nothing of our propinquity to the Rhineor Vosges mountains, only that Elodie lived a stone\u2019s throwaway and with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}