Zu groß, zu
Schwer, die Flügel zu klein, deine Brustmuskeln
Zum Fliegen zu schwach: Wie ist es der Allerletzte zu sein, be-
Rauscht von vergorenen Früchten.. wolltest du Sex, suchtest
Aber fandst niemanden mehr, blau auf Mauritius und alle anderen weg?
Als lebende Fleischkonserven auf lange Schiffsfahrten verschleppt, deine Eier ver-
Schlungen von Menschen und anderen Schweinen, Ratten
Affen.. darauf warten weggegessen zu werden – einen Meter emporragend ins
Alleinsein, 20 Kilo schwer
To the Last Dodo
Too large, too
Heavy, wings too fine, your pectoral muscles
Too weak to fly: How does it feel to be the very last, in-
Toxicated with fermented fruits.. wanting sex, seeking
But finding no one, blue on Mauritius and everyone else gone away?
Transported on long voyages, living cans of Spam, your eggs devoured by
Human beings and other swine, rats
Apes.. waiting to be consumed – towering three feet into
Loneliness, a 44-pound weight
Translated by Jon Cho-Polizzi
Mikael Vogel
An den letzten Dodo / To the Last Dodo
My Lights
- An den letzten Dodo / To the Last Dodo
- Die Wandertauben / The Passenger Pigeons
- Der Beutelwolf / The Thylacine
- An eine Bonin-Erddrossel in einer Schachtel in einer Schublade im Sammlungsraum des Senckenberg Naturmuseums in Frankfurt / To a Bonin Thrush in a Box in a Drawer in the Collections of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt
- An einen Zwergelefanten auf Malta / To a Dwarf Elephant on Malta
About Mikael Vogel
Poet, based in Berlin.
Six books of poetry:
zum Bleiben, wie zum Wandern – Hölderlin, theurer Freund (with José F. A. Oliver, Schiler & Mücke, 2020)
Dodos auf der Flucht. Requiem für ein verlorenes Bestiarium (Verlagshaus Berlin, 2018)
Morphine (Verlagshaus Berlin, 2014)
Massenhaft Tiere (Verlagshaus Berlin, 2011)
O Wildnis Dunkelheit! – Nachtgedichte (Offizin S. Meran, 2009)
Kassandra im Fenster (with Friederike Mayröcker and Bettina Galvagni, Offizin S. Meran, 2008).
In 2020, he published his poetological essay and manifest 'TIER. Ein Tier schreibt als Mensch ein Gedicht über ein Tier' (Edition Poeticon, Verlagshaus Berlin).
In 2016, his novella, Ebola Global', was released by the renowned underground publisher SuKulTuR whose booklets are distributed in vending machines.
In 2002, he was awarded a Hermann Lenz Writing Grant. In 2015, he traveled to Hōkkaido, Japan with a Yakiuta Travel Grant; in addition to his research there for Dodos auf der Flucht, work from his residence in Hōkkaido will appear in 2020 in a band of poetry on Japan. He was awarded the Medienpreis RAI Südtirol from Lyrikpreis Meran in 2016. In 2017, he was appointed Writer-in-Residence at Kommandantenhaus Dilsberg by the Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis e.V. Mikael Vogel is a recipient of the 2019 Literaturstipendium from the German state of Baden-Württemberg and was appointed LeseLenz Writer-in-Residence at Hausach that same year. He is a current recipient of the Arbeitsstipendium for German Literature for authors in Berlin 2021.
His poem “An den Schluckspecht” [To the Boozehound] inspired a craft beer with the name “Schluckspecht Pils” [Boozehound Pilsner] from the Berlin-based microbrewery Bierfabrik — his poem was printed on the label until Bierfabrik went extinct.
Friederike Mayröcker included two poems by Mikael Vogel in the list of her 25 favorite poems of all time.
