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THINKING IN FRAGMENTS
In cleanly sculpted lines, his acute and tender portraits are caught like sunlight on ripples of water as Matschoss evokes a vivid journey through the streets and bars of Europe. As he returns to his Melbourne home, caught between two worlds, his delicate haiku brush against the ache of loss.
(Philip Casey)
Thinking in Fragments is yet another milestone in the vibrant, artistic life of Joachim Matschoss. Born in Germany, living in Melbourne and capturing whole chunks of human experience in beautifully crafted, lyrical language is the enduring charm of this book. His language keeps pace with dazzling imagery as he moves from continent to continent, country to country, city to city, place to place, detail to detail.
This book bubbles. We dart from a bar in Portugal to goat’s cheese in Greece to a family in Germany to Gypsies in Rome or morning in Venice. The poet’s pen is a camera scared to leave a crumb unsnapped. And despite all the movement, we are constantly reminded that human existence is precious and fragile.
(Terry McDonagh)
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With roots in both Europe and Australia, Joachim Matschoss in his new book, Thinking in Fragments, displays a true traveller's eye for what most other people are too busy to notice. His mainly short poems have an imagistic sharpness of observation matched with a wry compassion. Many are relatively light-hearted. All are entertaining, one way or another. Between the pathos of 'The Forgotten Man' and the the humour of 'Altona Christmas Market' lies much that will beguile readers who, like Matschoss, are prepared to pause for a while, perhaps over a pavement coffee, and work their way through this new collection. (Geoff Page)
The author of this beautiful collection of poems is certainly an accomplished writer. Matschoss is a man whose whole world is a stage – and the people on it are his muses, his inspirations. He is a people watcher and has a mind that registers the very simple things in life, and in Nature’s wonders. This perception and clarity is brought to the pages of this poetry collection. Simple words, beautifully strung together to embrace a moment in time. Words that still the soul and open the readers’ minds – taking them to that place, that fragment of time.
I simply loved his writing. “Ahead the sun dips its fragile toes into a sea that is not afraid of tempests, a pink could dangling from the heavens like an African scarf…”
The author has lived and travelled through many parts of the world – all the while taking snapshots of life - life raw and unveiled. Snatched moments in time that he describes so beautifully – sometimes sad, sometimes serene, sometimes a commentary.
If you love words and their powerful imagery, then Matschoss is a writer that you should seek out. And don’t just read this collection, go fossick for more of his treasures. (Wendy O’Hanlon)
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Joachim Matschoss: Thinking in Fragments / Paperback, 70 p. / Coverdesign: Luke Harris / Published by Sid Harta Publishers, 2011 / ISBN: 1 921829 66 4
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SLEEPGRAINS
“These new poems are daring and inventive, intelligently balanced. They are dark, playful, moving, tender and intimate. Sleepgrains offers us fragile meditations on universal themes.”
Paul Norton
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mist in jamison valley
for a moment there is a break in the mist,
grey-green outlines of mountains emerge,
steep cliffs and a waterfall,
yet moments later
the valley brimful with mist again —
I remember that there was some rain last night:
now the moon pales and loses face completely,
as the sun jumps through the clouds
and everything is as it had been before:
the old boots are still dreaming
and my feet feel at home —
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Joachim Matschoss: Sleepgrains / Paperback, 82 p. / Coverdesign: Bill Ellemor / Published by PenFolk Publishing, Blackburn, 2004 / ISBN: 1 875894 41 1
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SNOW IN DECEMBER
“No matter where you might open the book, you will be greeted by a poem that lays out the bare facts. Joachim Matschoss´s new collection Snow In December is accessible, sharply observed and again deals with the silent gaps between the now and then, the here and there and ultimately between life and death.”
Tom D. Hoffmann
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Joachim Matschoss: Snow in December / Paperback, 94 pages, incl. CD of poems and songs / Coverdesign: Bill Ellemor / Published by PenFolk Publishing, Blackburn, 2001 / ISBN: 1 875894 20 9
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snow in december
today I grew older,
walking down towards the bakery
I felt it,
a bit —
I´m used to looking
towards the horizon,
always with my back
to the aching house —
facing the sea,
the salty stickiness
of a coastal afternoon —
facing what´s out there —
I grew older, today
but not before winter sets in,
with snow in december,
I will be writing poems about
death.
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UNDER A MIGRANT MOON
“This book of poems is a deep and significant journey towards discovery. It is a universal call which invites us to be mute, but breathe through our real inner landscape for love, life and serenity.”
Mammad Aidani
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Joachim Matschoss: Under a Migrant Moon
Paperback, 72 pages
Coverdesign: PenFolk Publishing
Published by PenFolk Publishing, Blackburn, 1999
ISBN: 1 875894 11 X
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under a migrant moon
now as a long day is fading
a young child again, I am
trying to get a shadowy glimpse
of a foreign world —
uninhabited.
under a migrant moon
time runs slower,
rocks meditate
dreaming in stone —
a suitcase full of books,
left a learned life ago,
flies by —
thoughts parachute
down in circles onto barren land,
smoothing its pebbles
with their new language.
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THE ANARCHY OF WATER
“There is so much in these reflections on the conjunctions of water and time. These poems are sharply observed, they lay out the facts and observe across time”
Peter Skelski
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seeds
now that you´ve gone
I will take your picture
carefully out of its frame
and I will put it in the flowerpot
near the windows —
and I will feed it, daily,
with poems and stories
and one day I will harvest:
a smile
an honest face
a tiny mole on a chin
thick-flowing hair
soft skin
and that intriguing smell —
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Joachim Matschoss: The Anarchy of Water 7 Paperback, 82 pages 7 Coverdesign: PenFolk Publishing /
Published by PenFolk Publishing, Blackburn, 1998 / ISBN: 1 875894 10 1
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SOUTHBOUND
“Joachim Matschoss writes with the eye of an observer, motivated by a country and its foreignness. His language balances on the narrow tightrope between poetry and prose. These poems have a remarkable clarity, a unique voice”
Theo Czernik
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days pass
days pass
and the child lives on
in the ageing body,
burdened with memories.
beyond the rock pools,
left behind
by the floating tide
I notice
a fresh wound
of sunken grief —
but the waves of
renewal
brush away the scars,
once again
suspending time.
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Joachim Matschoss: Southbound / Paperback, 76 pages, incl. CD of poems and songs / Coverdesign: PenFolk Publishing / Published by PenFolk Publishing, Blackburn, 1997 / ISBN: 1 875894 05 5
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A SHOVEL OF RAVENS
In this highly original and evocative collection of poetry, Joachim Matschoss takes the reader through a diverse range of emotions and situations. He handles topics with sensitivity, and sometimes with a certain amount of humour, leaving the reader on oaccasions with a haunting sense of isolation.n
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a shovel of ravens
a shovel of ravens
shot
up over me
out of a dip in the road,
and my thoughts
shivered
back to that memory.
someone had admired
your eyes
so sad, so interesting
and now,
from this bridge,
she looked down
into the cold eyes of the river —
and jumped.
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Joachim Matschoss: A Shovel of Ravens / Paperback, 64 pages / Translated by Joachim Matschoss &
Terry McDonagh / Published by Excalibur Press of London, 1995 / ISBN: 1 85634 584 X
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BEI OFFENEM FENSTER
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herbsttag
der regen
hatte schon nachts begonnen
der mond
wieder einmal sein gesicht verhüllt
die felder leer und ohne blick
nachtsjammern
hoch in den bäumen
langsam jetzt
schräge strahlen lagern herab
und saugen den dunst nach oben
blitzblank poliert
der wind die gesichter
ein welkes blatt im aufwind
duftet reif
es riecht nach prallen farben
der klang dieses tages
hilft mir atmen
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Joachim Matschoss: Bei offenem Fenster / German, Paperback, 64 pages / Published by Edition L, Loßburg, 1992 / ISBN: 3-927932-52-3
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Die Wahrheit ist eine ungerade Zahl
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Standpunkt
Das Scheitern des Sozialismus
ist eine teure Angelegenheit.
Jeder Dritte arbeitslos -
das ist verdammt hart.
Aber noch sind wir glimpflich davongekommen.
Denn,
das Scheitern des Kapitalismus
wird uns viel, viel mehr kosten
- unsere Erde..
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Felder der Provence
blassblauer strom.
auf dem duft von lavendel und mohn
gleite ich in einen sanften traumschlaft
es trägt mich fort
weit hoch in wolkentäler
und gleichsam über himmelsrutschen
zurück ins so vertraute meer der farben
traumtrunkenheit
windgleiche leichtigkeit
behendes federn, schwebend fast
zufriedenheit und frei sein.
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J. Matschoss: Die Wahrheit ist eine ungerade Zahl German / Paperback, 104 p. / Published by R.G. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt, 1991 / ISBN: 3-89406-411-0
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