Poem
Alfred Schaffer
‘SELF-PORTRAIT AS 007’ – DAY(DREAM) # 1,516
Something has gone wrong.I hang like shot game catching copious amounts of wind
high above a city.
Office glass everywhere, the blood slowly leaves my arms.
Something burning in the distance, a pack of dogs
bark angrily on the asphalt down below
helicopters hover out of sight rattling like egg whips.
Up to now, I’d always done my own stunts.
I utter a few screams that aren’t in the script
that I fought evil with evil
evil was like a cockroach.
I always turned up when needed
before wandering off triumphantly into the future during the closing scenes
my deeds and misdeeds forgiven and forgotten –
I never shot my mouth off
I’d rather let go.
© Translation: 2014, Michele Hutchison
‘ZELFPORTRET ALS 007’ – DAG(DROOM) # 1.516
‘ZELFPORTRET ALS 007’ – DAG(DROOM) # 1.516
Er is iets fout gegaan.Ik hang als aangeschoten wild veel wind te vangen
hoog boven een stad.
Kantoorglas overal, het bloed trekt langzaam uit mijn armen.
In de verte fikt wat na, een groepje honden
staat beneden op het asfalt woest te blaffen
helikopters hangen ratelend als slagroomkloppers buiten beeld.
Tot nu toe deed ik al mijn eigen stunts.
Ik slaak wat kreten die niet in het draaiboek staan
dat ik het kwaad met kwaad bestreed
het kwaad was als een kakkerlak.
Ik kwam geroepen als altijd
om in de slotminuten triomfantelijk de toekomst in te wandelen
mijn daden en mijn misdaden vergeven en vergeten –
nooit sprak ik mijn mond voorbij
ik liet nog liever los.
© 2014, Alfred Schaffer
From: Mens Dier Ding
Publisher: De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam
From: Mens Dier Ding
Publisher: De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Alfred Schaffer
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‘SELF-PORTRAIT AS 007’ – DAY(DREAM) # 1,516
Something has gone wrong.I hang like shot game catching copious amounts of wind
high above a city.
Office glass everywhere, the blood slowly leaves my arms.
Something burning in the distance, a pack of dogs
bark angrily on the asphalt down below
helicopters hover out of sight rattling like egg whips.
Up to now, I’d always done my own stunts.
I utter a few screams that aren’t in the script
that I fought evil with evil
evil was like a cockroach.
I always turned up when needed
before wandering off triumphantly into the future during the closing scenes
my deeds and misdeeds forgiven and forgotten –
I never shot my mouth off
I’d rather let go.
© 2014, Michele Hutchison
From: Mens Dier Ding
From: Mens Dier Ding
‘SELF-PORTRAIT AS 007’ – DAY(DREAM) # 1,516
Something has gone wrong.I hang like shot game catching copious amounts of wind
high above a city.
Office glass everywhere, the blood slowly leaves my arms.
Something burning in the distance, a pack of dogs
bark angrily on the asphalt down below
helicopters hover out of sight rattling like egg whips.
Up to now, I’d always done my own stunts.
I utter a few screams that aren’t in the script
that I fought evil with evil
evil was like a cockroach.
I always turned up when needed
before wandering off triumphantly into the future during the closing scenes
my deeds and misdeeds forgiven and forgotten –
I never shot my mouth off
I’d rather let go.
© 2014, Michele Hutchison
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