Poem
Wilma Stockenström
Welcome, stranger oblivion
Welcome, stranger oblivion. Do not beafraid to expand your black void round me,
magnification of the darkness behind
my eyes. Life which I held up like a mirror
to record an inverted truth,
precise in proportion
to the size of the frame, has cracked,
shattered, shards cutting the corners
of my mouth. Thus I bid you welcome, good
death, your name, my last bloody
word, your anonymity a fulfillment.
© Translation: 2007, Johann de Lange
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Cape Town, 2007
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Cape Town, 2007
Welcome, stranger oblivion
Welkom, vreemdeling vergetelheid. Skroom
nie om jou donker vakuum om my uit
te brei, vergroting van die duister agter
my ooglede. Die lewe wat ek soos \'n spieël
gevat het om \'n omgekeerde waarheid
op te teken, noukeurig in verhouding
tot die grootte van die raam, het gekraak,
uiteengespat in skerwe wat my mondhoeke
skeur. So heet ek jou welkom, goeie
dood, jou naam my laaste bloederige
woord, jou anonimiteit \'n vervulling.
nie om jou donker vakuum om my uit
te brei, vergroting van die duister agter
my ooglede. Die lewe wat ek soos \'n spieël
gevat het om \'n omgekeerde waarheid
op te teken, noukeurig in verhouding
tot die grootte van die raam, het gekraak,
uiteengespat in skerwe wat my mondhoeke
skeur. So heet ek jou welkom, goeie
dood, jou naam my laaste bloederige
woord, jou anonimiteit \'n vervulling.
© 1973, Wilma Stockenström
From: Spieël van water
Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
From: Spieël van water
Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
Poems
Poems of Wilma Stockenström
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Welcome, stranger oblivion
Welcome, stranger oblivion. Do not beafraid to expand your black void round me,
magnification of the darkness behind
my eyes. Life which I held up like a mirror
to record an inverted truth,
precise in proportion
to the size of the frame, has cracked,
shattered, shards cutting the corners
of my mouth. Thus I bid you welcome, good
death, your name, my last bloody
word, your anonymity a fulfillment.
© 2007, Johann de Lange
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2007, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2007, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
Welcome, stranger oblivion
Welcome, stranger oblivion. Do not beafraid to expand your black void round me,
magnification of the darkness behind
my eyes. Life which I held up like a mirror
to record an inverted truth,
precise in proportion
to the size of the frame, has cracked,
shattered, shards cutting the corners
of my mouth. Thus I bid you welcome, good
death, your name, my last bloody
word, your anonymity a fulfillment.
© 2007, Johann de Lange
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2007, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
From: The Wisdom of Water: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2007, Human & Rousseau, Cape Town
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