Poem
Paul Demets
BIO
The lint on my hands blossomslike cotton. You shine silkily. The spears
that stab stars in the scorched chamber
of the night are coated in a light paint.
Skirting along the edge of the meadow,
holding my breath, I touch strangle-tare
and the strings with your hands.
Lost milk loaf days,
the moon cycle harbouring pallid limbs
that light up until hogweed has us blistered
on our knees. Cells perish where bloodlust
reigns in never-explored territory. Mist
twists us like mustard gas. Black beckons,
buffs the tarmac up ahead. Factories belch
smoke from their calyxes. The first coolness
irrigates the rooftops. Though bees are hard to find
now, their stings blaze.
© Translation: 2011, Paul Demets
BIO
BIO
Het pluksel op mijn handen bloesemtals katoen. Je glimt zijig. In lichte verf gezet
zijn de spiesen die sterren priemen
in de geblakerde kamer van de nacht.
Langs het weiland, de adem ingehouden, zal ik
niet met dezelfde maar jouw handen
duivelsnaaigaren en de snaren raken.
Verloren melkbroodwit,
de maancirkel. Daarin lichten
bleke leden op, tot berenklauw ons haarfijn
liggen heeft. Cellen besterven, bloeddorst
heerst hier in nooit verkend gebied. Nevel
nekt als yperiet. Zwart wijst ons de weg,
wrijft asfalt verder op. Fabrieken drijven
rook boven hun kelken uit. Eerste koelte
bevloeit de daken. Zijn bijen ver te zoeken
nu, hun angels blaken.
© 2011, Paul Demets
From: De bloedplek
Publisher: De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam
From: De bloedplek
Publisher: De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Paul Demets
Close
BIO
The lint on my hands blossomslike cotton. You shine silkily. The spears
that stab stars in the scorched chamber
of the night are coated in a light paint.
Skirting along the edge of the meadow,
holding my breath, I touch strangle-tare
and the strings with your hands.
Lost milk loaf days,
the moon cycle harbouring pallid limbs
that light up until hogweed has us blistered
on our knees. Cells perish where bloodlust
reigns in never-explored territory. Mist
twists us like mustard gas. Black beckons,
buffs the tarmac up ahead. Factories belch
smoke from their calyxes. The first coolness
irrigates the rooftops. Though bees are hard to find
now, their stings blaze.
© 2011, Paul Demets
From: De bloedplek
From: De bloedplek
BIO
The lint on my hands blossomslike cotton. You shine silkily. The spears
that stab stars in the scorched chamber
of the night are coated in a light paint.
Skirting along the edge of the meadow,
holding my breath, I touch strangle-tare
and the strings with your hands.
Lost milk loaf days,
the moon cycle harbouring pallid limbs
that light up until hogweed has us blistered
on our knees. Cells perish where bloodlust
reigns in never-explored territory. Mist
twists us like mustard gas. Black beckons,
buffs the tarmac up ahead. Factories belch
smoke from their calyxes. The first coolness
irrigates the rooftops. Though bees are hard to find
now, their stings blaze.
© 2011, Paul Demets
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