Poem
Peter Verhelst
Today You Look So…
Today you look so remarkably intact.That smile of yours
as if a parakeet is climbing over your face.
For the first time in years the ball joint is movable, the head
rotates in the cup again, the tendons of the smile
tighten again, while you are saying: do you remember,
we were lying on a rock looking out across the bay and we knew
it could never be more beautiful than this
and then we looked into the sun.
Ships sailed past, as if they wanted to move a mountain.
I took hold of your face the way you put hands round the head
of a dog and with your thumbs stroke the corners of their eyes back
and the velvet of the ears in the direction of the sheen.
Does this make you happy?
On the rock the dog is still curled up, its legs
are folded under its body, nose to its tail. Look
how it trembles on the rock as if the shadow of a panting little tree.
Such a shame we never really took the time to…
© Translation: 2014, Willem Groenewegen
Vandaag zie je er …
Vandaag zie je er …
Vandaag zie je er zo merkwaardig gaaf uit.die glimlach van je
alsof een parkiet over je gezicht klimt.
Voor het eerst in jaren beweegt het kogelgewricht weer, de kop
wentelt weer in de kom, de pezen van de lach
spannen zich weer op, terwijl je zegt: weet je nog,
we lagen op een rots over de inham uit te kijken en we wisten
dat het nooit mooier kon worden dan dit
en daarna keken we in de zon.
Schepen voeren voorbij, alsof ze een berg wilden verplaatsen.
ik nam je gezicht vast zoals je handen rond de kop legt
van een hond en met je duimen de ooghoeken naar achteren
en het fluweel van de oren in glansrichting streelt.
Ben je gelukkig nu?
Op de rots krult de hond zich nog op, zijn poten
onder zijn lichaam gevouwen, de neus tegen zijn staart. Kijk
hoe hij trilt op de rots als de schaduw van een hijgend boompje.
Zo’n zonde dat we nooit echt de tijd hebben genomen om …
© 2014, Peter Verhelst
From: Wij totale vlam
Publisher: Prometheus,
From: Wij totale vlam
Publisher: Prometheus,
Poems
Poems of Peter Verhelst
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Today You Look So…
Today you look so remarkably intact.That smile of yours
as if a parakeet is climbing over your face.
For the first time in years the ball joint is movable, the head
rotates in the cup again, the tendons of the smile
tighten again, while you are saying: do you remember,
we were lying on a rock looking out across the bay and we knew
it could never be more beautiful than this
and then we looked into the sun.
Ships sailed past, as if they wanted to move a mountain.
I took hold of your face the way you put hands round the head
of a dog and with your thumbs stroke the corners of their eyes back
and the velvet of the ears in the direction of the sheen.
Does this make you happy?
On the rock the dog is still curled up, its legs
are folded under its body, nose to its tail. Look
how it trembles on the rock as if the shadow of a panting little tree.
Such a shame we never really took the time to…
© 2014, Willem Groenewegen
From: Wij totale vlam
From: Wij totale vlam
Today You Look So…
Today you look so remarkably intact.That smile of yours
as if a parakeet is climbing over your face.
For the first time in years the ball joint is movable, the head
rotates in the cup again, the tendons of the smile
tighten again, while you are saying: do you remember,
we were lying on a rock looking out across the bay and we knew
it could never be more beautiful than this
and then we looked into the sun.
Ships sailed past, as if they wanted to move a mountain.
I took hold of your face the way you put hands round the head
of a dog and with your thumbs stroke the corners of their eyes back
and the velvet of the ears in the direction of the sheen.
Does this make you happy?
On the rock the dog is still curled up, its legs
are folded under its body, nose to its tail. Look
how it trembles on the rock as if the shadow of a panting little tree.
Such a shame we never really took the time to…
© 2014, Willem Groenewegen
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