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Poem

Nicolás Suescún

THE MADHOUSE TREE

He knocked on all doors and none opened,
he looked at every window but all were closed.
It  was a way of saying:
"There are more doors and windows
than you’ve ever dreamed of."
He appealed to the highest courts of justice
and he humbled himself before a lot of people,
he acted the clown in the streets.
His family almost forgot about him
but one day they found him in a madhouse,
where the more he announced his soundness
the more they thought his madness deep and cureless.
So during the hours he spent in the courtyard
he learned  how to become a tree,
and then the wind, as it swayed its leaves,
produced a subjugating song
and made music when it shook its branches.

El arbol del manicomio

El arbol del manicomio

Tocó en todas las puertas y ninguna se abrió,
se asomó a todas las ventanas y todas se cerraron,
era una manera de decirle:
tal vez hay más puertas y ventanas
que las que has soñado.
Apeló a las instancias más altas
y se humilló ante bajos personajes,
hizo de payaso en las calles,
las gentes hicieron mofa de él
y lo encontraron en un manicomio
donde entre más pregonaba su cordura
más honda su locura y sin remedio la creían.
Así que en las horas que pasaba en el patio
aprendió a convertirse en un árbol,
y el viento entonces, al mover sus hojas,
dejaba oír su subyugante canto
y música hacía al mecer sus ramas.  
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THE MADHOUSE TREE

He knocked on all doors and none opened,
he looked at every window but all were closed.
It  was a way of saying:
"There are more doors and windows
than you’ve ever dreamed of."
He appealed to the highest courts of justice
and he humbled himself before a lot of people,
he acted the clown in the streets.
His family almost forgot about him
but one day they found him in a madhouse,
where the more he announced his soundness
the more they thought his madness deep and cureless.
So during the hours he spent in the courtyard
he learned  how to become a tree,
and then the wind, as it swayed its leaves,
produced a subjugating song
and made music when it shook its branches.

THE MADHOUSE TREE

He knocked on all doors and none opened,
he looked at every window but all were closed.
It  was a way of saying:
"There are more doors and windows
than you’ve ever dreamed of."
He appealed to the highest courts of justice
and he humbled himself before a lot of people,
he acted the clown in the streets.
His family almost forgot about him
but one day they found him in a madhouse,
where the more he announced his soundness
the more they thought his madness deep and cureless.
So during the hours he spent in the courtyard
he learned  how to become a tree,
and then the wind, as it swayed its leaves,
produced a subjugating song
and made music when it shook its branches.
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
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère