Poem

Nyk de Vries

Side by side

CAMP

Architects defend architects. Lawyers defend lawyers. Typists defend typists. Artists defend artists. I defended you until we broke up, you took up with a plasterer and we ended up in different camps. I was desperate, but still went off to see the world. I saw differences and suddenly understood why the country was filled with identical houses, the streets with identical cars. I decided to give up defending. I turned onto the road and left the Frisian subsidised art scene behind me.

KAMP

Architecten verdedigen architecten. Advocaten verdedigen advocaten. Typisten verdedigen typisten. Kunstenaars verdedigen kunstenaars. Ik verdedigde jou, tot we uit elkaar gingen, je ervandoor ging met een stukadoor en we in verschillend kampen terechtkwamen. Ik voelde me ontwricht, maar ging ook de wereld zien. Ik zag verschillen en begreep plotseling waarom het land vol dezelfde huizen stond, de straten vol dezelfde auto’s. Ik verkoos het verdedigen te laten. Ik draaide de weg op en verliet het Friese subsidiecircuit.

Nyk de Vries

(The Netherlands, 1971)

Nyk de Vries is a poet, novelist, and musician. He was born in Noardburgum in Friesland and studied history at Groningen University. At present he works and lives in Amsterdam. His novels Rozijnkonijn and Prospero came out in the early 2000s, and although de Vries hardly sat still during those years, it was over 10 years until his next novel, Renger, was published by De Arbeiderspers in 2015. R...