Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Adam Dickinson

A STRING OF SMALL PEARLS

EEN SNOER PARELTJES

We zitten nu in de keel.
De hals
 
is van een dier het moeilijkste
stuk om door te komen.
 
We zitten in de keel,
achterbaks
 
met de nachtslaap-
regeling voor maagzweren.
 
We zitten in de keel nu
zoals de rups
 
en de vlinder volkomen
afgescheiden werelden voortbrengen.
 
We spelden licht
op een keel-
 
kweek
van verworven rechten, opmerkelijk
 
vanwege zijn mottig,
amandelig geboorterecht.
 
Ziekenhuizen raken besmet
door de kelen van hun
 
bewoners.
We zitten in de keel,
 
waar we proberen
een bijdrage te leveren
 
aan onze schaarse gemeenschappen.
Oproer
 
is met speeksel beoefend
metabolisme.
 
We zitten in de keel nu,
we doen samen met één lepel.

A STRING OF SMALL PEARLS

We are in the throat now.
Necks
 
are the hardest animal
parts to scale.
 
We are in the throat,
disingenuous
 
with the night-time sleeping
arrangements for ulcers.
 
We are in the throat
now as the caterpillar
 
and butterfly parent
completely partitioned worlds.
 
We prick light
on a throat
 
culture
of entitlement, remarkable
 
for its moth-eaten,
tonsillar birthright.
 
Hospitals are being infected
by their inhabitants’
 
throats.
We are in the throat
 
trying
to make a difference
 
to our sporadic communities.
Insurrection
 
is metabolism practiced
with spit.
 
We are in the throat now
sharing the same spoon.
Close

A STRING OF SMALL PEARLS

We are in the throat now.
Necks
 
are the hardest animal
parts to scale.
 
We are in the throat,
disingenuous
 
with the night-time sleeping
arrangements for ulcers.
 
We are in the throat
now as the caterpillar
 
and butterfly parent
completely partitioned worlds.
 
We prick light
on a throat
 
culture
of entitlement, remarkable
 
for its moth-eaten,
tonsillar birthright.
 
Hospitals are being infected
by their inhabitants’
 
throats.
We are in the throat
 
trying
to make a difference
 
to our sporadic communities.
Insurrection
 
is metabolism practiced
with spit.
 
We are in the throat now
sharing the same spoon.

A STRING OF SMALL PEARLS

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère