Adam's World
presenting Adam Donaldson Powell's visual art and literary works.
Adam’s World — an introduction to the art and published books of Adam Donaldson Powell.
Sitat: “Det er viktig å ha gode tekniske ferdigheter men kunst krever publikumstekke, publikumsvennlige ideer, budskap og evne til å bevege mennesker — enten til glede og inspirasjon eller forakt etc. God kunst formidler ut fra hjertet og tankene til kunstneren som beboer på planeten. Det tekniske blir ingen erstatning for dette.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
Quote: “It’s important to have good technical skills, but art requires crowd appeal, ideas of public/social interest, messages and the ability to move people – either to joy and inspiration or contempt etc. Good art conveys from the heart and mind of the artist as one who lives on the planet. Technical skills alone will not compensate for lack of this.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
“Every new painting is like throwing myself into the water without knowing how to swim.”
— Edouard Manet
“Like Vincent van Gogh, I am an impasto painter. My painting tools include brushes, knives, plastic, rags, sponges, credit cards, pieces of wood, leaves, fingers, hands, feet … basically, whatever it takes to create the effect, textures and spirit of the idea to be conveyed. I paint on everything I can find: canvas, paper, wooden boards, cardboard, cloth, styrofoam, rocks … It is both a passion and an addiction. Lots of dopamine in my brain, I guess.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
This abstract painting is about environmental problems related to pollution of the seas — both with waste such as plastic, but also with abandoned fishing nets. The colourful plastic attracts fishes, which consume it.
ADAM AS PAINTER:
“My ‘style’? I instinctively rebel against being conveniently labelled as ‘this, or that’; just as I rebel against the so-called ‘rules of painting’, or ‘rules of writing’ … or populistic black-and-white classifications such as ‘political correctness vs. incorrectness’ etc. Actually, it is the audacity of these concepts that annoys me. The need of others to classify me, my art, my writing … or anything, is surely an indication of their own egotism, insecurities, limitations and weaknesses. Alas, we live in a world of labels, ratings, and quality judgments based on popularity and price. The closest relevant generic style classifications of my own art might be perhaps ‘abstract’, ‘colour field’, ‘geometric’, ‘abstract expressionist’, ‘minimalist’ etc. But I always find my own ‘mix’ … with limitless variations. My art and writing are meant to be different and new; and pleasing, challenging and annoying — at the same time.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
“Vertigo”, 50×50 cm., oil on canvas with “watercolour effect”.
SEE SEVERAL OF MY RECENT PAINTINGS HERE!
«Sunrise in early Spring», oil on canvas, 65×90 cm., 2018.
REGARDING MY INSPIRATION AND IDEAS …
“I see poetry everywhere. In fact, each and every one of my paintings is a poem or a story … with hints of a song, an opera, a dance, a theater performance.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
I am often asked where my ideas and inspiration come from. For those interested, see selected recent paintings accompanied by texts and thoughts HERE!
“Le jeune homme et la mort”, 65×90 cm., oil on canvas. This is my re-interpretation of Cocteau’s idea for the famous ballet. See my notes about this HERE!
The paintings include: 1) “Endless Winter/Climate change”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
2) “Spleen – love dissolving”, 20×20 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
3) “Roses and a teardrop for Las Ramblas”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. This miniature abstract painting was inspired by the terror attack upon the people at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It depicts a rose-floral wallpaper-like background with a line/queue that is broken — interrupted by a single teardrop;
4) “Trou de la gloire/Gaufres bleues; Oui, l’amour est bleu … et la véritable gloire est un trou dans un mur qui s’effrité, («Gloryhole/Blue waffles; Yes, love is blue … and real glory is a hole in a crumbling wall»)”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018. I accidentally stumbled over photos of “blue waffles” on the Internet. They were so disgusting and glorious that I had to challenge myself to interpret the magnificent phenomenon;
5) “Ghosts no. 1 — Climate change sucks the life out of Spring”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
6) “Ghosts no. 2 — Climate change sucks the life out of Spring”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
7) “Love between vampires: Yeah, Baby — let’s tear off a piece! (L’amour entre les vampires: Viens m’enculer!)”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. Whether our needs for giving and receiving love bring out the vampire or the angel in us, it is all an expression of our evolving humanity;
8) “Niqab — of love and fetish in an age of terror”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. Keywords: niqab, AK47, roses, blood, hidden passion, discomforting eyes, risks, fetish, love, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018;
9) “Pissing on our parade”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Pissing on our parade”, is a commentary on gay violence — i.e. violence, murder and terror committed both by and against gays. LGBTQ-persons are “people”, and prone to the same problems and personality issues as all others in society. However, whenever an LGBTQ-person commits an act of terror (Orlando), sexual violence and harassment (by the way, these harassments are seldom investigated as #metoo, or even hate crimes), murder plus cannibalism, or other acts that feel like a violation of what many consider to be basic humane and civilised values, it feels as embarrassing to me as a gay person as muslims must feel when yet another act of hate-inspired terrorism is committed in the name of Islam. It is also embarrassing to me as a human and as a soul in active incarnation. These individuals — regardless of whether they are disturbed, or just hateful — are pissing on our parade. Keywords: pissing, parade, #stopthebleeding, wounded hearts, rainbow, #stopthehate;
10) “Silence.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Silence.” is about the news and important information that we do not receive, or that is kept hidden from us by politicians, corporations, scientists and the mainstream media. It is also about what most of us are thinking but do not talk about due to social controls on thoughts, speech and actions. Silence should be a beautiful thing — a reprieve from the noise of everyday life and stress … but sometimes the silence is something to be feared. When we fear it, silence is the new noise;
11) “White Noise.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “White Noise” is about the constant chatter of mainstream media — spitting out and vomiting the same news stories ad nauseum; in all newspapers, radio and television stations, on the internet … all over the world, 24 hours a day. The noise keeps us company when we are alone and trying to escape the silence of loneliness … and we eventually neither listen to nor hear the warnings, worries and hatred broadcasted and echoed from high and low. The noise is our new silence;
12) and 13) “Broken Hallelujah in the Landscape of Life.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Broken Hallelujah in the Landscape of Life” interprets the crevices, rips, tears and shattering we all experience, expected or not; i.e. those moments and periods where our hopes and dreams, infatuations, marriages, friendships, ways of perceiving the world and other people etc. fall apart, unravel and demand re-adjustment — with new vision. Although often quite painful, these adjustments provide us with opportunities to re-invent and re-define ourselves. The choice is ours: to suffer for an indeterminate period of time … or to climb down from the cross and explore “the new”, seeking balance — with a positive sense of moderation.“Ariston metron!” (“Moderation is best!);
14) “#metoo: Men’s room — the writing on the players’ wailing wall”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. This graffiti painting reveals the angry and dissatisfied murmurings of some men on social media and (as here) on a men’s room wall. It is generally considered to be politically incorrect for men to voice concern over matriarchal feminism and the #metoo movement, and the fear of loss of basic rights for men. When these voices are restricted to hidden enclaves and not allowed to be measured and discussed openly then the ensuing negative consequences can be devastating. The frustrated graffiti text includes: matriarchy; man-haters; Fuck #metoo; Fuck no sex; men prefer 1) whores, 2) men, 3) sex dolls; custody rights; lonely; feminazi; dutch treat etc.;
15) and 16) “Weather forecast — Warning, High Probability of Nuclear Storm; Part One: Alert” and Part Two: Perfect Storm”, 15 x 15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018. Perhaps the most immediate threat of annihilation of the planet and humanity is the threat of nuclear war and a serious nuclear accident. This work predicts a future where such threats becomes part of the weather and terror threat warning system. Colour code: yellow and black; the smoky grey background tells the rest of the story;
17) and 18) “Memento Mori — Fama (Starry Night)” and “Memento Mori — Damnatio Memoriae”, 15 x 15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018: These two simple, if not “pseudo-naïvistic”, paintings are about the naive personal quests for fame after death, i.e to live forever through our children’s or others’ minds — by way of recorded fame in this lifetime and myths; and the opposite and more likely reality: of being dead forever/being forgotten. In “Fama” the subtitle “Starry Night” functions as a Hollywood star reference as well as is a commentary about Vincent Van Gogh’s failure to achieve notoriety and artistic recognition before after his physical death. His own personal “starry night” is rather a quiet internal burning and ember-like glow — without spectacle. For artists, authors and musicians this notoriety is often established and maintained by way of representation, archives and mention in museum collections, published books, recordings, Wikipedia, the internet, history books etc. However, with ever-developing technology and increasing limited space in libraries and museums these hopes of living forever are being thwarted. For others who try to establish themselves as television hit show stars, as bloggers and as reality stars the goal is perhaps even more unattainable. We cannot take worldly acclaim with us to the afterlife, but to ensure that we still maintain a presence in this world after we leave it physically has been a dream of many for ages. The looming question is: “What is the purpose of Life and achieving notoriety — do we live for the ‘now’, or forever?” Another important question is “Should all art be made with the intention of it living forever; what is the value of temporary, performance and disposable art?” And of course, “Memento Mori — Damnatio Memoriae” reminds us that — should we fail to achieve lasting fame — we will not only remain “still dead” but we will disappear … forever, and without a trace, save possibly a short-lived grave and tombstone.
These paintings comprise a series of miniature abstract oil paintings that are about feigning indifference in a crazy and brutal world because there is simply so much that seems out of our control and we must often pretend to be indifferent in order to survive from day to day.
“Love illusion”, 65×90 cm., oil on canvas.
ADAM AS PHOTOGRAPHER:
See my Oslo Street Art Documentation Photography (including documentation of works by The London Police, Galo, Shepard Fairey, Logan Hicks, D-Face, Will Barras, Faile, Martin Whatson and many unnamed graffiti artists) HERE!
ART CRITICISM:
I have reviewed art and photography: art photography appearing in photography book publications, paintings in public exhibitions, and art photography collections made for / on the internet. Here are two examples of my photography criticism using an epistolary format:
LETTRES À UN PHOTOGRAPHE FRANÇAIS
LETTERS TO AN ITALIAN ART PHOTOGRAPHER
SEE MY JEWELLERY DESIGN HERE!
ADAM’S ART IS IN SEVERAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS (in Europe, USA and South America):
Adam sitting under one of his art photography works in the collection of Ullevål Sykehus in Oslo. The hospital system also has two of his paintings in its collection, including this one:
“The day after 9/11, oil on canvas” —
In the permanent collection of Rikshospitalet in Oslo.
A FEW OF MY PREVIOUS PAINTING STYLES:
See several of my previous paintings HERE!
“Crumpled paper, oil on canvas, 50×62 cm.”
“Austin, oil on canvas, 80×80 cm.»
“Tribute to Yukio Mishima: Spring Snow”, oil on canvas, 50×50 cm.”
“Seascape I” (original of a series), oil on canvas, 120×120 cm.”
Ah, feck it!
My two latest published books:
SHORT AUTHOR BIO:
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a multilingual author, literary critic, and art photography critic; and a professional visual artist. He has published several literary books (including collections of poetry, short stories, and novellas, two science fiction novels, a biography, and a collection of essays) in the USA, Norway and India; as well as numerous works in international literary publications on several continents. He writes in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has read his poetry at venues in New York City (USA), Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Kathmandu (Nepal). His book “Gaytude” (co-authored with Albert Russo) won the 2009 National Indie Excellence Award in the category gay/lesbian non-fiction. Powell was also the winner of the Azsacra International Poetry Award in 2008, and the recipient of a Norwegian Foreign Ministry travel stipend for authors in 2005. Powell also took initiative to planning and organizing the “Words – one path to peace and understanding” international literary festival in Oslo, Norway in 2008. He has been an author under the Cyberwit label since 2005, and he has published 13 literary books since 1987.
Read some excerpts from the book HERE!
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL – WIKIPEDIA NORGE
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Under the Shirttails of Albert Russo: an alternative biography, l’Aleph — Sweden, ISBN 978-91-7637-401-6, © Wisehouse 2017, Sweden.
Entre Nous et Eux: contes de fées pour adultes, Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-93-85945-77-9, © 2017, India.
Jisei: death poems and daily reflections by a person with AIDS”, Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-81-8253-403-2, © 2013, India.
The tunnel at the end of time” (co-written with Rick Davis and Azsacra Zarathustra), Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-81-8253-160-4, © 2010, India.
Malerier og fotokunst, a short 38-page retrospective overview of some of Adam Donaldson Powell’s best known oil paintings and photographic art works”. Published by Cyberwit.net as a special limited and numbered full-color, soft cover edition (55 copies only), ISBN 978- 81-8253-154-3, India, © 2009.
GAYTUDE: a poetic journey around the world, co-authored together with Albert Russo 1[1], bilingual (French and English), gay poetry, 334 pages, Xlibris, ISBN 978-1-4363-6395-2, 2009, USA 6 [2].
2014: the life and adventures of an incarnated angel, 135 pages, Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-81-8253-118-5, 2008, India.
Critical Essays, literary and photobook criticism by Adam Donaldson Powell and Dr. Santosh Kumar 2[3], 108 pages, Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-81-8253-110-9, 2008, India.
Le Paradis (Paradise), 80 pages, Cyberwit.net, ISBN 978-81-8253-103-1, 2008, India. Inkluderer bilag med symboler fra Universelle Lysspråket, som opplevd av Laila Holand.
Rapture: endings of space and time (86 pages), Cyberwit,net, ISBN 978-81-8253-083-6, 2007, India.
Three-legged Waltz, (80 pages), Cyberwit.net, ISBN 81-8253-058-X, 2006, India.
Collected Poems and Stories, (175 pages), Cyberwit.net, ISBN 81-8253-028-8, 2005, India.
Arcana and other archetypes, (special limited edition – hardback collection of poetry), AIM Chapbooks ANS, 2001, Norway (now out-of-print).
Notes of a Madman, (hardback collection of poetry), Winston-Derek Publishers, Inc., 1987, ISBN 1-55523-054-7, USA (now out-of-print).
(Above photos of Adam taken in NYC when he was writing his first published book: “Notes of a Madman”)
CHECK IT OUT:
And here is a quick recap/overview of my published books. For more information, please see the next pages of this blog.
MY AMAZON.COM AUTHOR PAGE: HERE!
MY CYBERWIT.NET AUTHOR PAGE: HERE!
“Death is creative, but not picky — she will claim us according to her time schedule and whims, regardless of cause of Death. Don’t obsess over Death. Live each moment as if it were your first and last.”
— Adam Donaldson Powell
Toxique : “C’est parfois dur d’être gentil. “
ART IS SOMETIMES TOXIC AND CONTROVERSIAL — BECAUSE IT GIVES US NEW WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE MUNDANE. TOXIC ART IS NOT REALLY NICE. WHY SHOULD IT BE? AFTER ALL, IN DAILY LIFE IT IS SOMETIMES QUITE DIFFICULT TO BE NICE (“C’est parfois dur d’être gentil.”). AT MOMENTS, “TOXIQUE” IS VERY SEXY:
**LOUISE BOURGEOIS
Artist
“Something is a work of art when it has filled its role as therapy for the artist. I don’t care about the audience. I’m not working for the audience. The audience is welcome to take what they can.”
This abstract painting is about environmental problems related to pollution of the seas — both with waste such as plastic, but also with abandoned fishing nets. The colourful plastic attracts fishes, which consume it. And humans as well are attracted to that which glitters … and which ultimately leads to destruction.
**BARBARA KRUGER
Artist
“I think that art is the ability to show and tell what it means to be alive. It can powerfully visualize, textualize and/or musicalize your experience of the world, and there are a million ways to do it. I have trouble with categories; I don’t even think high culture, low culture. I just think it’s one broad cultural life, and all these different ways of showing and telling are in that. I do know just the idea that because something’s in a gallery, instantly it’s art, whereas something somewhere else is not art, is silly and narrow. I’m not interested in narrowing definitions.”
“Le jeune homme et la mort”, 65×90 cm., oil on canvas. This is my re-interpretation of Cocteau’s idea for the famous ballet. See my notes about this HERE!
**LINDA WEINTRAUB
Freelance curator and author of ‘Art on the Edge and Over — Searching for Art’s Meaning in Contemporary Society 1970’s-1990’s.’
“When you think about art, you have to think about life. If art doesn’t sensitize us to something in the world, clarify our perceptions, make us aware of the decisions we have made, it’s entertainment.”
The paintings include: 1) “Endless Winter/Climate change”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
2) “Spleen – love dissolving”, 20×20 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
3) “Roses and a teardrop for Las Ramblas”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. This miniature abstract painting was inspired by the terror attack upon the people at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. It depicts a rose-floral wallpaper-like background with a line/queue that is broken — interrupted by a single teardrop;
4) “Trou de la gloire/Gaufres bleues; Oui, l’amour est bleu … et la véritable gloire est un trou dans un mur qui s’effrité, («Gloryhole/Blue waffles; Yes, love is blue … and real glory is a hole in a crumbling wall»)”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018. I accidentally stumbled over photos of “blue waffles” on the Internet. They were so disgusting and glorious that I had to challenge myself to interpret the magnificent phenomenon;
5) “Ghosts no. 1 — Climate change sucks the life out of Spring”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
6) “Ghosts no. 2 — Climate change sucks the life out of Spring”, 15×15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018;
7) “Love between vampires: Yeah, Baby — let’s tear off a piece! (L’amour entre les vampires: Viens m’enculer!)”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. Whether our needs for giving and receiving love bring out the vampire or the angel in us, it is all an expression of our evolving humanity;
8) “Niqab — of love and fetish in an age of terror”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. Keywords: niqab, AK47, roses, blood, hidden passion, discomforting eyes, risks, fetish, love, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018;
9) “Pissing on our parade”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Pissing on our parade”, is a commentary on gay violence — i.e. violence, murder and terror committed both by and against gays. LGBTQ-persons are “people”, and prone to the same problems and personality issues as all others in society. However, whenever an LGBTQ-person commits an act of terror (Orlando), sexual violence and harassment (by the way, these harassments are seldom investigated as #metoo, or even hate crimes), murder plus cannibalism, or other acts that feel like a violation of what many consider to be basic humane and civilised values, it feels as embarrassing to me as a gay person as muslims must feel when yet another act of hate-inspired terrorism is committed in the name of Islam. It is also embarrassing to me as a human and as a soul in active incarnation. These individuals — regardless of whether they are disturbed, or just hateful — are pissing on our parade. Keywords: pissing, parade, #stopthebleeding, wounded hearts, rainbow, #stopthehate;
10) “Silence.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Silence.” is about the news and important information that we do not receive, or that is kept hidden from us by politicians, corporations, scientists and the mainstream media. It is also about what most of us are thinking but do not talk about due to social controls on thoughts, speech and actions. Silence should be a beautiful thing — a reprieve from the noise of everyday life and stress … but sometimes the silence is something to be feared. When we fear it, silence is the new noise;
11) “White Noise.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “White Noise” is about the constant chatter of mainstream media — spitting out and vomiting the same news stories ad nauseum; in all newspapers, radio and television stations, on the internet … all over the world, 24 hours a day. The noise keeps us company when we are alone and trying to escape the silence of loneliness … and we eventually neither listen to nor hear the warnings, worries and hatred broadcasted and echoed from high and low. The noise is our new silence;
12) and 13) “Broken Hallelujah in the Landscape of Life.”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. “Broken Hallelujah in the Landscape of Life” interprets the crevices, rips, tears and shattering we all experience, expected or not; i.e. those moments and periods where our hopes and dreams, infatuations, marriages, friendships, ways of perceiving the world and other people etc. fall apart, unravel and demand re-adjustment — with new vision. Although often quite painful, these adjustments provide us with opportunities to re-invent and re-define ourselves. The choice is ours: to suffer for an indeterminate period of time … or to climb down from the cross and explore “the new”, seeking balance — with a positive sense of moderation.“Ariston metron!” (“Moderation is best!);
14) “#metoo: Men’s room — the writing on the players’ wailing wall”, 15×15 cm, oil on canvas, 2018. This graffiti painting reveals the angry and dissatisfied murmurings of some men on social media and (as here) on a men’s room wall. It is generally considered to be politically incorrect for men to voice concern over matriarchal feminism and the #metoo movement, and the fear of loss of basic rights for men. When these voices are restricted to hidden enclaves and not allowed to be measured and discussed openly then the ensuing negative consequences can be devastating. The frustrated graffiti text includes: matriarchy; man-haters; Fuck #metoo; Fuck no sex; men prefer 1) whores, 2) men, 3) sex dolls; custody rights; lonely; feminazi; dutch treat etc.;
15) and 16) “Weather forecast — Warning, High Probability of Nuclear Storm; Part One: Alert” and Part Two: Perfect Storm”, 15 x 15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018. Perhaps the most immediate threat of annihilation of the planet and humanity is the threat of nuclear war and a serious nuclear accident. This work predicts a future where such threats becomes part of the weather and terror threat warning system. Colour code: yellow and black; the smoky grey background tells the rest of the story;
17) and 18) “Memento Mori — Fama (Starry Night)” and “Memento Mori — Damnatio Memoriae”, 15 x 15 cm., oil on canvas, 2018: These two simple, if not “pseudo-naïvistic”, paintings are about the naive personal quests for fame after death, i.e to live forever through our children’s or others’ minds — by way of recorded fame in this lifetime and myths; and the opposite and more likely reality: of being dead forever/being forgotten. In “Fama” the subtitle “Starry Night” functions as a Hollywood star reference as well as is a commentary about Vincent Van Gogh’s failure to achieve notoriety and artistic recognition before after his physical death. His own personal “starry night” is rather a quiet internal burning and ember-like glow — without spectacle. For artists, authors and musicians this notoriety is often established and maintained by way of representation, archives and mention in museum collections, published books, recordings, Wikipedia, the internet, history books etc. However, with ever-developing technology and increasing limited space in libraries and museums these hopes of living forever are being thwarted. For others who try to establish themselves as television hit show stars, as bloggers and as reality stars the goal is perhaps even more unattainable. We cannot take worldly acclaim with us to the afterlife, but to ensure that we still maintain a presence in this world after we leave it physically has been a dream of many for ages. The looming question is: “What is the purpose of Life and achieving notoriety — do we live for the ‘now’, or forever?” Another important question is “Should all art be made with the intention of it living forever; what is the value of temporary, performance and disposable art?” And of course, “Memento Mori — Damnatio Memoriae” reminds us that — should we fail to achieve lasting fame — we will not only remain “still dead” but we will disappear … forever, and without a trace, save possibly a short-lived grave and tombstone.
These paintings comprise a series of miniature abstract oil paintings that are about feigning indifference in a crazy and brutal world because there is simply so much that seems out of our control and we must often pretend to be indifferent in order to survive from day to day.
SEE MORE OF MY PAINTINGS HERE!
**NB. Selected quotes from
The New York Times: “ART; Is It Art? Is It Good? And Who Says So?” (Interviews with art-world participants and observers on what is art, what is good art and who decides etc.).
New painting: Entre Nous et Eux
HERE IS “ENTRE NOUS ET EUX”, based in part on my book of the same name:
Excerpt from the book:
1. LA MARELLE.
Un est un nombre,
complet en lui-même,
que l’on utilise sans cesse …
même pour jouer au Pokémon Go.
Le premier obstacle
est le test d’un pédophile :
avec force sourires et gentillesses,
il m’appâte en m’offrant
un jeu de Pokémon rare.
Non merci, non merci …
me dis-je en moi-même,
je préfère jouer à la marelle,
sauter sur la troisième case
c’est bien plus tentant
on ne se laissera pas dupés
par ce genre de bonhomme.
Oh attention, il faut éviter les fissures
sinon, paf, on risque de tomber
et de se retrouver …dans l’Irak en feu!
Quatre et cinq : shhhh … ne me troublez pas
Ah, j’allais oublier, il y a classe de ballet
si nous l’écoutons, nous nous jetons
carrément sur les mines plantées par Daesh.
Il nous guette toujours, en salivant,
Sixième case: je le regarde
du coin de l’oeil, et voilà que
nous nous trouvons
face à face avec un soldat
qui veut nous forcer à l’épouser
nous qui n’avons que huit ans!
“Pas le temps !” je crie, la voix rauque
on se trouve déjà sur la sept …
Tiens, ma mère me sonne
sur l’i-Phone, pour me dire
que le dîner sera prêt à six heures.
“Oui, maman, ne t’en fais pas
je ne serai pas en retard”
dis-je toute haletante.
Nous approchons déjà
de la dix, puis de la onze.
“Monsieur, vous voyez bien que
nous sommes occupées,” lui fais-je
et, las, il s’en va.
Je prends enfin le bus 92,
toute en sueur, mais contente,
et rentre bien gentiment à la maison.
Les adultes n’imagineraient
jamais quels dangers nous guettent
tous les jours dans Paris.
Mais à quoi bon les effrayer!
Moi je sais me défendre,
dès que j’ai vu ce type,
j’ai su à qui j’avais à faire.
2. PRIVILÈGES.
Je me suis senti blessé, carrément humilié
lorsque avant-hier, après l’école,
tu as dit que j’étais un bâtard, simplement
parce que je ne connaissais pas mon père.
Quand je me suis plaint à la maison, on m’a conseillé
de faire preuve de compréhension et de compassion
car les autres n’étaient pas aussi privilégiés que moi.
Comment cela privilégié? Nous allons à la même école,
nous portons les mêmes beaux uniformes, et
nos professeurs nous traitent tous de la même façon …
Après tout, c’est vrai que je suis privilégié —
car moi j’ai deux mamans merveilleuses,
et toi, mon vieux, tu n’en a qu’une.
Ah, j’ai compris, tu m’as traité de bâtard
à cause de la couleur de ma peau,
parce que je suis un sang-mêlé?
C’est donc cela, tu te sens privilégié
par le fait que tu es blanc, et pas moi.
3. LE HIJAB.
Alors que mes copines françaises apprenaient les faits de la vie, la
sexualité entre autre, moi, j’écoutais notre imam parler de
l’importance de porter le hijab. Tandis que mes amies se prêtaient des
rouge à lèvres, on me montrait comment utiliser le crayon pour me
maquiller les yeux à la mode musulmane.
Je ne regarde plus les photos Instagram des célébrités, ni les
sites glamour. Je ne cherche même plus «l’homme de mes rêves”, car mon
futur mari sera choisi par mes parents, celui-ci devra, bien entendu,
être un bon musulman, et moi, par respect, je devrai porter le hijab.
Mais ce qui me chagrine le plus c’est lorsque je me regarde dans le
miroir, sachant que mes copines vont s’acheter de jolies choses en
ville, pour se faire belles.
J’ai lu que les féministes d’autrefois jetaient leurs soutien-gorge au
feu. Je suis fière d’être musulmane. Mais parfois, je rêve aussi de
brûler mon hijab.
Et parfois, je me sens honteuse.
4. QUESTION DE COULEUR.
Mes camarades de classe prétendent qu’ils “ne voient pas la couleur”
quand ils regardent les gens … et qu’ils ne sont pas racistes. Ils
font très attention à ne dénigrer personne, ne soulignant pas que les
Asiatiques ont les yeux en amande, que beaucoup d’Africains ont de
grosses lèvres, que certains Juifs ont des nez crochus ou que les
Noires américaines ont de larges hanches. Mais leur chauvinisme
transparaît dès qu’ils ont une cigarette américaine au bec, ou
lorsqu’ils évoquent les organes sexuels surdimensionnés, ou
prétendument tels, des Noirs, la sensualité des femmes asiatiques, ou
celle des latino-américaines, voire, lorsque, du coin de l’oeil, ils
jaugent la petite française boulotte aux cheveux blonds et aux yeux
clairs, assise au fond de la classe.
Ils ne voient pas la couleur ou la race, disent-ils. Et ainsi, ils ne
voient pas non plus mes traits, ni ma particularité de Vietnamien. En
fait, ils ne me voient pas du tout, car je suis d’un blanc cassé
qui est très différent du leur.
Les couples mixtes – femmes asiatiques et hommes blancs ou noirs –
sont aujourd’hui monnaie courante. Par contre, moi, le Vietnamien, je
sais qu’il me sera beaucoup plus difficile de trouver une femme
blanche qui ne cherchera, tout au plus, que mon amitié. Cela me rend
parfois triste.
5. LES ENNUIS.
Pourquoi ai-je toujours des ennuis à la maternelle ?
On nous a demandé ce que nous voulions être quand nous seront grands.
Jacques veut être policier, comme son père. Henri veut être pompier.
Marc veut être pilote, ou avocat. Omar veut être imam. Et Charlie veut
être officier de marine.
Charlie est mon meilleur ami à l’école, et nous jouons à la guerre
tout le temps. Je me suis senti fier de crier : «Et, moi, je veux être
soldat, … auprès d’ISIS !” Nous avons continué à discuter jusqu’à ce
qu’on nous dise d’aller jouer à l’extérieur. Tous, sauf pour moi. On
m’a conduit directement au commissariat, tandis que des policiers
armés fouillaient ma maison.
Pourquoi ai-je toujours des ennuis ? !!
6. LES ENFANTS VOUDRAIENT.
… Et les enfants des écoles du septième arrondissement voudraient:
que La France ressemble davantage aux les Etats-Unis d’Amérique!
Ils ont inscrit aux pieds de la statue gigantesque que nous leur avons
offerte les mots suivants: “Donnez-moi vos pauvres, ceux dont les
visages sont émaciés et qui ont les mains calleuses, donnez-moi tous
ceux, venus des quatre coins du monde, qui aspirent à la liberté.”
En France, nous avons beaucoup de gens qui sont pauvres, épuisés par
un travail harassant et qui aspirent à une plus grande liberté – ce
sont des gens de tous âges, races et religions.
Nous possédons en France deux modèles de la Statue de la Liberté. Mais
nous ne pouvons plus accueillir ces milliers de réfugiés qui frappent
à nos portes, ces victimes de guerres effroyables et ces chercheurs de
fortune, car nous avons de plus en plus de chômeurs ici-même.
Pourquoi sommes-nous si peu généreux?
Est-ce peut-être parce que nos deux statues, elles, sont de petite taille?
7. LES MENDIANTS.
Hier, j’ai demandé à mes parents pourquoi les Roumains dans les rues
de notre quartier ont toujours vécu dans la mendicité.
“Sont-ils des gens mauvais, maman?”
Elle m’a rassuré en m’expliquant qu’ils étaient tout simplement
pauvres et malheureux, et qu’ils sont venus en France pour avoir de
quoi pour manger.
Alors, j’ai fait du porte-à-porte dans notre copropriété, et j’ai pu
ainsi obtenir assez d’argent pour pouvoir acheter deux sacs remplis de
victuailles, sacs que j’ai remis à une femme roumaine assise au coin
de la rue, en face de la banque.
Elle a regardé le sac en ricanant, puis elle m’a harangué dans un
mauvais français: “… va-t-en, sale petit raciste, putain de France!
Je n’ai pas besoin de ton aumône. Je travaille comme une chienne afin
de pouvoir m’acheter une nouvelle bicoque”.
Et elle a jeté les sacs dans le caniveau.
Elle m’a appris que je n’étais pas quelqu’un de bien. Que j’étais en
fait, un raciste dans ma putain de France, qui dérangeait dans ses
affaires.
Maintenant, dès que je vois des mendiants, je marche de l’autre côté de la rue.
8. BOLERO MODERNE.
Les statues d’anges
tremblent de peur.
Les mères-courage pleurent secrètement —
Dès avant l’ouverture de l’école,
ces belles jeunes filles se contorsionnent
dans une danse perverse …
et effrontée.
Tandis que les bombes explosent,
les 72 vierges promises
jouent à cache-cache …
Le vacarme est tel qu’il les empêche
d’entendre la moindre mélodie.
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