Poem
Loftus Marais
After a grandiose exhibition
on my way home after a grandiose exhibitionI 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
© Translation: 2010, Loftus Marais & Charl-Pierre Naudé
Ná ’n grand uitstalling
Ná ’n grand uitstalling
op pad huis toe ná ’n grand uitstallingry 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
© 2008, Loftus Marais
From: Staan in die algemeen nader aan vensters
Publisher: NB, Cape Town
From: Staan in die algemeen nader aan vensters
Publisher: NB, Cape Town
Poems
Poems of Loftus Marais
Close
After a grandiose exhibition
on my way home after a grandiose exhibitionI 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
© 2010, Loftus Marais & Charl-Pierre Naudé
From: Staan in die algemeen nader aan vensters
From: Staan in die algemeen nader aan vensters
After a grandiose exhibition
on my way home after a grandiose exhibitionI 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
© 2010, Loftus Marais & Charl-Pierre Naudé
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