The white formation on my computer screen
The two slits that shed tears - photo of 21 march 2026
21 march 2026
John Bjarne Grover
(Most of the following is also under the brief comments of 21 march 2026).
Some weeks ago I got an antiquarian copy of Cornelis Vreeswijk's first poetry book 'En handfull gräs' (Norstedts 1970). It is a very promising poetry book of high quality, and one understands from it that he could have become one of Sweden's greatest poets, but the poet may have been receptive to the response and could have fallen prey of international 'nazi' intrigues. A few days ago I finally got (after having ordered it weeks ago) an antiquarian copy of his second poetry book 'I stället för vykort' = 'Instead of postcards' from 1974. The first poem is called 'Till Gustaf' = 'For Gustaf': "I[n] Biafra - Etiopien - ..." - with the last line 'Fuck you Gustaf!'. This 'Gustaf' is probably himself (probably not meant to be a swedish royal name) - in the sense of his name 'Cornelis Vreeswijk' = 'corner is frees-opening' - as his new poetic voice after the reception of the first book. (I dont know how the reception was, though). This 'gust of...' could have been taken to be about just this dog completing an anal coitus with a drugged human before being shot (as a twisted form of his name) - say, for the idea of gusts of wet dog fur which could come through the otherside air (I am not acquainted with the phenomenon but have guessed something like that). The book from 1974 contains 33 poems while a record of his with the same name seems to have contained 15 songs released in 1973 - it seems that the interest nowadays concerns mainly these record songs and not the book. The front page of the book is the same as the record - which is this photo (from this source). The photo could have been meant to be the poet after the reception of his 1970 poetry book.
Vreeswijk (born in the Netherlands) came to Sweden when 12 years old and never became a swedish citizen. He took an education as social worker and worked for some time at Beckomberga when Nelly Sachs was hospitalized there for psychiatric treatment for three years. Vreeswijk's first wife seems to have worked there. Could be this is a part of the background of his first poetry book of 1970? He published a poem ('Den förtrollade telefonen') in 'Dagens Nyheter' in 1962. The poem can be obtained by sending a request to Svenskt Visarkiv. (I have not tried it).
The first (introductory or motto) poem in 'En handfull gräs' from 1970 is this (translated with translate.google.com):
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Tidigt en morgon korsar han asfalten kastar en handfull gräs framför ekporten och släntrar vidare så stenstoderna skälver.
Det finns ett slags dimma. Den lever vi i.
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Early one morning he crosses the asphalt throws a handful of grass in front of the oak gate and strolls on until the stone pillars tremble.
There is a kind of fog. We live in it.
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I excerpt also a poem from page 50 as example:
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Till en punkt på radarskärmen
Oscillos Oscillos som är på skärmen Så rista dem Oscillos!
Och Oscillos han gångar grön över mörkret som en fisk |
To a point on the radar screen
Oscillos Oscillos who is on the screen So carve them Oscillos!
And Oscillos he walks green across the darkness like a fish |
Oscillos is clearly a modern Achilles who could have been seen on an oscilloscope screen in the late 1960's - but the poem seems really to be about the phenomenon which I describe in the article (or data presentation) '6 january 2026: Can light be dated?' - the mysterious white formation on my computer screen - with the 'carvings' (two parallel slits) on my computer screen that later shed tears - like that famous Madonna of Akita in Japan:
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The white formation on my computer screen |
The two slits that shed tears - photo of 21 march 2026 |
It was a wooden sculpture of the Madonna that shed the tears in Akita. Vreeswijk's motto or introductory poem refers to itself as the handful grass that is thrown in front of the oak gate - which then means that the oak gate is what follows immediately thereafter. I must reproduce this as well - the translation is again with translate.google.com - only very few words needed correction - the word 'ristas' can mean 'is carved' but here probably means 'is shaken' - and 'ligger på rygg' does not specify who lies on the back (if it is you or me or the storm) so maybe 'lying on the back' is better than 'lying on your back' - and I have corrected also the last line taking 'njuta' to be 'shall enjoy' in parallel with 'shall go':
Herrens vrede över Sörmland.
Orm slink nedom stenar. Ty regn
- När det har lugnat sig,
The wrath of the Lord over Sörmland.
Snakes slither down stones. For rain
- When it has calmed down,
"¡Ay que terribles cinco de la tarde!"
Vägarna svikta - träd;
björk och alm, svajar och ristas
likt döende skådespelare.
Och tre älgtjurar dödas av blixten.
vrålar över sjön,
sväller var myrstack, krossar bär
och försenade bin
gud så det knastrar;
sätt på kaffet nu!
ligger på rygg och flämtar av ledsnad,
skall vi två, du och jag, gå utom dörren
starka som aldrig det allt under
himmelen den slaka. Njuta av friden.
"¡Ay que terribles cinco de la tarde!"
The roads fail - trees;
birch and elm, sway and are shaken
like dying actors.
And three moose bulls are killed by lightning.
roars over the lake,
swells every anthill, crushes berries
and delayed bees
god so that it crackles;
put on the coffee now!
lying on the back and panting with sadness,
we two, you and I, shall go out the door
strong as never before all under
the slack sky. And enjoy the peace.
It is easy to understand the Madonna's tears on such a wooden format - this oak gate that opens the book. The spanish title means "Oh, what a terrible five (o'clock) in the afternoon!" and may be the 'oak' = 'ek' is present by the first 'Ay que...'.
It is perhaps possible to see the holes in the white formation on my computer screen as telling of the numerals of our decimal number system - which then counts to 8+2 = 10. However, by a closer look there could be even more such holes and indeed it seems possible to count up to 13, which then could have been the real number of constituents in our decimal system. See my TEQ #395 and my study of Rembrandt who seems to have explored just this aspect of numerality. If one starts counting holes clockwise from about 5 o'clock, the hole #5 (around 8 o'clock) looks a little compressed.
Vreeswijk's 'En handfull gräs' seems to be related to the 'man-on-wagon' archetype, such as my Caruso - and then it is even possible to see the 'crash' as related to the wagon slamming into the curbstone. It is seen from my account that the observer to the scene seems to be a little selfish.
The story of the poet Vreeswijk is perhaps the story of the poet who was couped by nazi mythologies (hidden behind his name). Today he is remembered mainly for his songs.
© John Bjarne Grover
On the web 21 march 2026