Poem
Henk van der Waal
The Fourth Person Singular
why should they not be with you, those few words of a bequest thatmake the mouth brackish: instead of you quietly chuckling at the
death of god and crying: look at me, how I am free and rebellious,
you are perhaps able to sound out reception on how
the female disrupter crumbles the future’s wafer
on the tongue of those confined to themselves
those replacement seekers in lust and avoiders of
the fourth person singular
that neck-breaking, dissolute yes-woman
who gives the utmost and
for the benefit of the recoilers
from death lifts dominoes with
velvet hand from the row of seconds ticking
against each other till nothing more collapses and those
sensitive to time are held in the never of what becomes: pure hope
From the series ‘Nomenclatura’
© Translation: 2008, Paul Vincent
de vierde persoon enkelvoud
de vierde persoon enkelvoud
waarom zouden die niet bij je zijn, die paar woorden van een toevalling diede mond brak maken: in plaats van je stilletjes te verkneukelen over de
dood van god en te roepen: zie mij eens, hoe vrij ik ben en opstandig,
vermag je misschien ontvangst te sonderen omtrent hoe de
ontwrichtster de ouwel van de toekomst verkruimelt
op de tong van de tot zich beperkten
die vervanging zoekers in lust en ontwijkers van
de vierde persoon enkelvoud
die halsbreekster en bandeloze jaknikster
die het uiterste geeft en ten
behoeve van de terugdeinzers
voor de dood met fluwelen hand
dominosteentjes uit de rij tegen elkaar
tikkende seconden tilt tot niets meer voort valt en de
tijdgevoeligen gehouden zijn in het nooit van wat wordt: puur hoop
Uit de serie ‘Nomenclatura’
© 2003, Henk van der Waal
From: De aantochtster
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
From: De aantochtster
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Henk van der Waal
Close
The Fourth Person Singular
why should they not be with you, those few words of a bequest thatmake the mouth brackish: instead of you quietly chuckling at the
death of god and crying: look at me, how I am free and rebellious,
you are perhaps able to sound out reception on how
the female disrupter crumbles the future’s wafer
on the tongue of those confined to themselves
those replacement seekers in lust and avoiders of
the fourth person singular
that neck-breaking, dissolute yes-woman
who gives the utmost and
for the benefit of the recoilers
from death lifts dominoes with
velvet hand from the row of seconds ticking
against each other till nothing more collapses and those
sensitive to time are held in the never of what becomes: pure hope
From the series ‘Nomenclatura’
© 2008, Paul Vincent
From: De aantochtster
From: De aantochtster
The Fourth Person Singular
why should they not be with you, those few words of a bequest thatmake the mouth brackish: instead of you quietly chuckling at the
death of god and crying: look at me, how I am free and rebellious,
you are perhaps able to sound out reception on how
the female disrupter crumbles the future’s wafer
on the tongue of those confined to themselves
those replacement seekers in lust and avoiders of
the fourth person singular
that neck-breaking, dissolute yes-woman
who gives the utmost and
for the benefit of the recoilers
from death lifts dominoes with
velvet hand from the row of seconds ticking
against each other till nothing more collapses and those
sensitive to time are held in the never of what becomes: pure hope
From the series ‘Nomenclatura’
© 2008, Paul Vincent
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère