Poem
Arjen Duinker
A POEM
It’s all right,You did your work, gardener,
And so did you, hundred-year-old captain.
And you, carer of the sick, you did your work too.
Be content with that, be glad,
Take a rest and begin again.
Our paths cross and I recognize you,
Just as I recognize others, and yet others.
We aren’t kept separate
By unbearable suffering
Or dangerous streets or arid plains
Demanding to know what we’re up to.
Take a rest and begin again.
I look at the dead,
I look at the living.
We call up memories
And smile at the kids passing by,
And drink water from small cups.
If there’s any fig brandy around, we drink it,
With great gusto.
The chairs and the stools are their considerate selves,
Doing their work even in the bitter cold.
The motor-engines of the bus help us,
As do the overhead wires of the tram.
We lie on the ground and listen, open-mouthed,
To the crows and the blackbirds.
© Translation: 2009, Ina Rilke
EEN GEDICHT
EEN GEDICHT
Het is goed,Je hebt je werk gedaan, tuinman,
En jij ook, honderdjarige kapitein,
Ook jij, verzorger van zieken, deed je werk.
Wees er tevreden over, wees er blij om,
Rust uit en begin opnieuw.
Ik kom jullie tegen en herken jullie,
Net zoals ik anderen herken, en nog weer anderen.
We zijn niet van elkaar gescheiden
Door onaanvaardbare pijnen
Of gevaarlijke straten of droge vlaktes
Die naar de kern van onze bedoelingen vragen.
Rust uit en begin opnieuw.
Ik kijk naar de doden,
Ik kijk naar hen die leven.
We halen herinneringen op
En lachen tegen kinderen die langskomen
En drinken water uit kleine kommen.
Als er vijgenbrandewijn is, drinken we die,
Vol geestdrift.
De krukken en stoelen zijn ons terwille,
Ze doen hun werk ook bij hevige kou.
De motoren van de bus helpen ons
Net als de bovenleidingen van de tram.
Op de grond liggen we met open mond
Te luisteren naar kraaien en lijsters.
From: Buurtkinderen
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Arjen Duinker
Close
A POEM
It’s all right,You did your work, gardener,
And so did you, hundred-year-old captain.
And you, carer of the sick, you did your work too.
Be content with that, be glad,
Take a rest and begin again.
Our paths cross and I recognize you,
Just as I recognize others, and yet others.
We aren’t kept separate
By unbearable suffering
Or dangerous streets or arid plains
Demanding to know what we’re up to.
Take a rest and begin again.
I look at the dead,
I look at the living.
We call up memories
And smile at the kids passing by,
And drink water from small cups.
If there’s any fig brandy around, we drink it,
With great gusto.
The chairs and the stools are their considerate selves,
Doing their work even in the bitter cold.
The motor-engines of the bus help us,
As do the overhead wires of the tram.
We lie on the ground and listen, open-mouthed,
To the crows and the blackbirds.
© 2009, Ina Rilke
From: Buurtkinderen
From: Buurtkinderen
A POEM
It’s all right,You did your work, gardener,
And so did you, hundred-year-old captain.
And you, carer of the sick, you did your work too.
Be content with that, be glad,
Take a rest and begin again.
Our paths cross and I recognize you,
Just as I recognize others, and yet others.
We aren’t kept separate
By unbearable suffering
Or dangerous streets or arid plains
Demanding to know what we’re up to.
Take a rest and begin again.
I look at the dead,
I look at the living.
We call up memories
And smile at the kids passing by,
And drink water from small cups.
If there’s any fig brandy around, we drink it,
With great gusto.
The chairs and the stools are their considerate selves,
Doing their work even in the bitter cold.
The motor-engines of the bus help us,
As do the overhead wires of the tram.
We lie on the ground and listen, open-mouthed,
To the crows and the blackbirds.
© 2009, Ina Rilke
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