Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Loftus Marais

After a grandiose exhibition

on my way home after a grandiose exhibition
I drive past
road painters at work
their municipal stripes of semi-mondrians
make for honest landscape art
after all the “art for art’s sake” I had to endure
(for god’s sake)
even rothko might have gleaned something
from this painter in his overall
kneeling with his brush
as he spreads his white and yellow and red
everybody knows precisely what that means
a worker waves his flag
the same red as unveiling curtains
gucci dresses and still-life apples
but it simply says wait
and I duly wait
and after a while I’m allowed to drive
home
as I find my way along a line
that brings back the vanishing point, every time

Ná ’n grand uitstalling

Ná ’n grand uitstalling

op pad huis toe ná ’n grand uitstalling
ry ek verby
’n padverwery
die strepe van munisipale semi-mondriane
is ’n eerlike landskapskildery
ná al die “art for art’s sake” waarna ek moes kyk
(for god’s sake)
selfs rothko kon iets leer
by die verwer in sy overall
gekniel by sy kwas
soos hy sy wit en geel en rooi daar smeer
almal weet wat dit beteken
’n werker waai sy vlag
dieselfde rooi as onthullingsgordyne
gucci-rokke en stillewe-appels
maar dit sê eenvoudig wag
en ek wag
en ná ’n tyd kan ek ry
huis toe
soos ek my pad vind op ’n lyn
wat die verdwynpunt áltyd laat verskyn
Close

After a grandiose exhibition

on my way home after a grandiose exhibition
I drive past
road painters at work
their municipal stripes of semi-mondrians
make for honest landscape art
after all the “art for art’s sake” I had to endure
(for god’s sake)
even rothko might have gleaned something
from this painter in his overall
kneeling with his brush
as he spreads his white and yellow and red
everybody knows precisely what that means
a worker waves his flag
the same red as unveiling curtains
gucci dresses and still-life apples
but it simply says wait
and I duly wait
and after a while I’m allowed to drive
home
as I find my way along a line
that brings back the vanishing point, every time

After a grandiose exhibition

on my way home after a grandiose exhibition
I drive past
road painters at work
their municipal stripes of semi-mondrians
make for honest landscape art
after all the “art for art’s sake” I had to endure
(for god’s sake)
even rothko might have gleaned something
from this painter in his overall
kneeling with his brush
as he spreads his white and yellow and red
everybody knows precisely what that means
a worker waves his flag
the same red as unveiling curtains
gucci dresses and still-life apples
but it simply says wait
and I duly wait
and after a while I’m allowed to drive
home
as I find my way along a line
that brings back the vanishing point, every time
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