– The first man on the moon! There always has to be a first man. A discovery presupposes a first man and some surprises.

– Ah,

– In discovering other worlds, man will learn that all stars are empty and that he is alone. I say he is unique. I say he is alone.

– With a lot of sky around him.

– Too much sky. And a sky without colour.

– Without angels.

– Angels are in the mind and in books. And only man prints those.

– You imagine the universe made of empty closets turned into satellites by other closets.

– Empty closets, but occupied by a few clotheshangers swinging ceaselessly…

– Yes… hangers and trembling…

[…]

 

[…] Our most daily gestures, our simplest, most normal gestures are charged with our memory of the Bible without us really being aware of it. We come out of the Bible, we are the Bible. […]

 

After a long silence, then he continues:

– The forests are very old. The forests are older than man.  They have seen the gods die. And man is naked in a forest of dust, dry leaves and roads covered with leaves and dust.

 

from Jean Daive, Under the Dome: Walks with Celan