Poem

Marije Langelaar

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Grass

The magic has been on the prowl for days
stimulates and pushes thousands of men
to a small cast-iron fence everything is still closed but
already it germinates
prepare us for action, born naked, stretch
our hands upwards
push away now shoot into the air
all at once blinded by the light
grope into the wind and wait

Gras

De tover ligt al dagen op de loer
prikkelt en wringt duizenden mannen
voor een klein ijzeren hekje nog is alles gesloten maar
het kiemt al
zetten ons schrap, naaktgeboren, richten
onze handen naar boven
afzetten nu schieten de lucht in
in een keer blind van het licht
tasten de wind in en wachten

Marije Langelaar

(The Netherlands, 1978)

Marije Langelaar (Goes, 1978) is an artist and poet. She won literary acclaim with her first collection, De rivier als vlakte (The river as plain). For her second collection, De schuur in (Into the shed), she was awarded the biennial Hugues C. Pernath Prize, and the book was also nominated for the Jo Peters Poetry Prize and the J.C. Bloem Prize. Her latest collection Vonkt (It Sparks) won the J...