Poem
Henk van der Waal
Or Like
Or likewhen it rains
outside and you stretch out to
your full length and can slowly be leafed through
so that the water can flow from inside
too as a foretaste of all the
boundlessness to come
quite simply because silence,
from which the droning of things has leached, is
already laying claim to you, awakening a suspicion in
you of what it will be like when you’ve crawled breathless
over the edge of the future, so as in the shape of
men to withdraw from the human and await
the caress of the hand that knows all.
From the series ‘Matter for Deciphering’
© Translation: 2008, Paul Vincent
Of zoals
Of zoals
Of zoalswanneer het buiten
regent en je je uitstrekt en
lang maakt en langzaam doortastbaar
laat zodat het water ook van binnen kan
gaan stromen als voorproefje van al het
oeverloze dat komen gaat
simpelweg omdat de stilte,
waar het gonzen van de dingen uit is weggelekt, nu
al aanspraak op je maakt en een vermoeden in je wakker
roept van hoe het zijn zal als je buiten adem over de rand
van de toekomst gekropen bent om je in de gedaante der
mensen aan het menselijke te onttrekken en te wachten
op de streling van de hand die alles weet.
Uit de serie ‘Stof ter ontraadseling’
© 1995, Henk van der Waal
From: De windsels van de sfinx
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
From: De windsels van de sfinx
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Henk van der Waal
Close
Or Like
Or likewhen it rains
outside and you stretch out to
your full length and can slowly be leafed through
so that the water can flow from inside
too as a foretaste of all the
boundlessness to come
quite simply because silence,
from which the droning of things has leached, is
already laying claim to you, awakening a suspicion in
you of what it will be like when you’ve crawled breathless
over the edge of the future, so as in the shape of
men to withdraw from the human and await
the caress of the hand that knows all.
From the series ‘Matter for Deciphering’
© 2008, Paul Vincent
From: De windsels van de sfinx
From: De windsels van de sfinx
Or Like
Or likewhen it rains
outside and you stretch out to
your full length and can slowly be leafed through
so that the water can flow from inside
too as a foretaste of all the
boundlessness to come
quite simply because silence,
from which the droning of things has leached, is
already laying claim to you, awakening a suspicion in
you of what it will be like when you’ve crawled breathless
over the edge of the future, so as in the shape of
men to withdraw from the human and await
the caress of the hand that knows all.
From the series ‘Matter for Deciphering’
© 2008, Paul Vincent
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