Poem
K. Satchidanandan
A MAN WITH A DOOR
A man walks with a dooralong the city street;
he is looking for its house.
He has dreamt
of his woman, children and friends
coming in through the door.
Now he sees a whole world
passing through this door
of his never-built house:
men, vehicles, trees,
beasts, birds, everything.
And the door, its dream
rising above the earth,
longs to be the golden door of heaven,
imagines clouds, rainbows,
demons, fairies and saints
passing through it.
But it is the owner of hell
who awaits the door.
Now it just yearns
to be a tree, full of foliage
swaying in the breeze,
just to provide some shade
to its homeless hauler.
A man walks with a door
along the city street;
a star walks with him.
© Translation: 2011, K. Satchidanandan
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India, 2011
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India, 2011
EEN MAN MET EEN DEUR
Een man loopt met een deurdoor de straten van de stad;
hij zoekt een huis voor de deur.
Hij heeft ooit gedroomd
dat zijn vrouw, kinderen en vrienden
door de deur passeren.
Nu ziet hij een hele wereld komen
door deze deur
van zijn nooit gebouwde huis:
mensen, voertuigen, bomen,
dieren, vogels, alles.
De droom van de deur
beperkt zich niet tot de aarde;
hij wil de poort van de hemel worden;
hij schittert als goud, stelt zich voor hoe
wolken, regenbogen,
hemelse wezens en heiligen
door hem heen gaan.
Maar het is de eigenaar van de hel
die de deur opwacht.
Nu verlangt hij slechts
weer boom te zijn, vol blad
wiegend in de wind,
gewoon wat schaduw biedend
aan de dakloze die hem nu draagt.
Een man loopt met een deur
door de straten van de stad
een ster loopt met hem mee.
© Vertaling: 2012, Annette van der Hoek & A.G. Menon
© 2012, K. Satchidanandan
Poems
Poems of K. Satchidanandan
Close
A MAN WITH A DOOR
A man walks with a dooralong the city street;
he is looking for its house.
He has dreamt
of his woman, children and friends
coming in through the door.
Now he sees a whole world
passing through this door
of his never-built house:
men, vehicles, trees,
beasts, birds, everything.
And the door, its dream
rising above the earth,
longs to be the golden door of heaven,
imagines clouds, rainbows,
demons, fairies and saints
passing through it.
But it is the owner of hell
who awaits the door.
Now it just yearns
to be a tree, full of foliage
swaying in the breeze,
just to provide some shade
to its homeless hauler.
A man walks with a door
along the city street;
a star walks with him.
© 2011, K. Satchidanandan
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: 2011, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: 2011, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India
A MAN WITH A DOOR
A man walks with a dooralong the city street;
he is looking for its house.
He has dreamt
of his woman, children and friends
coming in through the door.
Now he sees a whole world
passing through this door
of his never-built house:
men, vehicles, trees,
beasts, birds, everything.
And the door, its dream
rising above the earth,
longs to be the golden door of heaven,
imagines clouds, rainbows,
demons, fairies and saints
passing through it.
But it is the owner of hell
who awaits the door.
Now it just yearns
to be a tree, full of foliage
swaying in the breeze,
just to provide some shade
to its homeless hauler.
A man walks with a door
along the city street;
a star walks with him.
© 2011, K. Satchidanandan
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: 2011, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Publisher: 2011, Harper Collins Publishers, New Delhi, India
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère