Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Henk van der Waal

Or Like

Or like
when 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’

Of zoals

Of zoals

Of zoals
wanneer 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’
Close

Or Like

Or like
when 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’

Or Like

Or like
when 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’
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
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