Poem
Piotr Sommer
Of Course
he won’t tell you his whole lifein three hours or in three days, even
if he really wanted
to show you that he likes you
and trusts you. There’s just
no way to do it, because
whoever said sympathy
has to be sustained by detailed knowledge.
No one, of course. Perhaps that’s why one can
not hurry, and permit oneself
silence, and words
only when one wants.
And now try to trust him in this absence
of words and sentences and stories.
© Translation: 2009, Christian Hawkey and William Martin
UITERAARD
vertelt hij jou zijn hele leven nietin drie uur of in drie dagen, zelfs
als hij je heel graag zou willen
laten zien, dat hij je mag
en je vertrouwt. Dat kan
gewoon niet, want
wie zegt, dat sympathie
gewonnen wordt door uitvoerige informatie?
Niemand, uiteraard. Juist daarom hoeft men
zich niet te haasten en kan men volstaan
met zwijgen, met woorden
alleen dan, wanneer men zin heeft.
En probeer hem nu te vertrouwen bij dat gemis
aan woorden en zinnen en verhalen.
© Vertaling: 2009, Tsead Bruinja en Karol Lesman
OCZYWIŚCIE
nie opowie ci całego życiaw trzy godziny ani w trzy dni, nawet
gdyby bardzo chciał
pokazać, że cię lubi
i ma do ciebie zaufanie. Po prostu
nie ma na to sposobu, bo
kto powiedział, że sympatia
musi się wspierać wiedzą szczegółową.
Nikt, oczywiście. Pewnie dlatego można
się nie spieszyć i można sobie pozwolić
na milczenie, na słowa
tylko wtedy, kiedy się ma ochotę.
A teraz spróbuj mu zaufać pod tę nieobecność
słów i zdań i opowiadań.
© 2009, Piotr Sommer
From: Dni i noce
Publisher: Biuro Literackie, Wrocław
From: Dni i noce
Publisher: Biuro Literackie, Wrocław
Poems
Poems of Piotr Sommer
Close
Of Course
he won’t tell you his whole lifein three hours or in three days, even
if he really wanted
to show you that he likes you
and trusts you. There’s just
no way to do it, because
whoever said sympathy
has to be sustained by detailed knowledge.
No one, of course. Perhaps that’s why one can
not hurry, and permit oneself
silence, and words
only when one wants.
And now try to trust him in this absence
of words and sentences and stories.
© 2009, Christian Hawkey and William Martin
From: Dni i noce
From: Dni i noce
Of Course
he won’t tell you his whole lifein three hours or in three days, even
if he really wanted
to show you that he likes you
and trusts you. There’s just
no way to do it, because
whoever said sympathy
has to be sustained by detailed knowledge.
No one, of course. Perhaps that’s why one can
not hurry, and permit oneself
silence, and words
only when one wants.
And now try to trust him in this absence
of words and sentences and stories.
© 2009, Christian Hawkey and William Martin
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