Poem
K. Schippers
WEIGHT
Once I thought a sheetof paper weighed more after
you had drawn a line on it.
Now I am not sure whether I should
burden your route with the lightest
truth by telling you that it
smells of geography here
and that the park was laid out only
so that sometime in the future
you could see it. Too heavy?
Then forget geography.
Without you the light
the space, the buildings
would have worked in vain,
so sparse, so weightless
they are now that in their
vicinity the end of the park
should be within your reach.
© Translation: 2012, Willem Groenewegen
Gewicht
Gewicht
Eens dacht ik dat een velpapier meer weegt als je
er een streep op hebt gezet.
Nu weet ik niet of ik je route
met de lichtste waarheid mag
verzwaren als ik zeg dat het
hier naar aardrijkskunde ruikt
en dat het park alleen is
aangelegd zodat jij het ooit
zou kunnen zien. Te zwaar?
Vergeet de aardrijkskunde.
Zonder jou zouden het licht,
de ruimte en de gebouwen
voor niets hebben gewerkt,
zo dun, zo gewichtloos
zijn ze nu dat je in hun
nabijheid het eind van het
park moet kunnen halen.
© 2011, K. Schippers
From: tellen en wegen
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
From: tellen en wegen
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of K. Schippers
Close
WEIGHT
Once I thought a sheetof paper weighed more after
you had drawn a line on it.
Now I am not sure whether I should
burden your route with the lightest
truth by telling you that it
smells of geography here
and that the park was laid out only
so that sometime in the future
you could see it. Too heavy?
Then forget geography.
Without you the light
the space, the buildings
would have worked in vain,
so sparse, so weightless
they are now that in their
vicinity the end of the park
should be within your reach.
© 2012, Willem Groenewegen
From: tellen en wegen
From: tellen en wegen
WEIGHT
Once I thought a sheetof paper weighed more after
you had drawn a line on it.
Now I am not sure whether I should
burden your route with the lightest
truth by telling you that it
smells of geography here
and that the park was laid out only
so that sometime in the future
you could see it. Too heavy?
Then forget geography.
Without you the light
the space, the buildings
would have worked in vain,
so sparse, so weightless
they are now that in their
vicinity the end of the park
should be within your reach.
© 2012, Willem Groenewegen
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