Poem
Ellen Deckwitz
HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK
He said we need to talkand I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak
and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement
and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.
© Translation: 2021, David Colmer
HIJ ZEI WE MOETEN PRATEN
HIJ ZEI WE MOETEN PRATEN
en ik zei okay, laat me evenmijn labello pakken, dat praat
een stuk makkelijker
en ik gleed nog voor hij doorhad
wat er aan de hand was in mijn tas.
Zonk naar de bodem, langs
mascara, doekjes, ons nog te
ondertekenen samenlevingscontract
en bereikte de bodem van mijn tas.
Daar nam ik plaats. En heel af en toe
staarde ik omhoog en zag een wanhopige
mannenhand naar me graaien. Die hand
noemde ik God.
Poems
Poems of Ellen Deckwitz
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HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK
He said we need to talkand I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak
and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement
and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.
© 2021, David Colmer
HE SAID WE NEED TO TALK
He said we need to talkand I said okay, let me just
grab my lip balm, makes it
easier to speak
and before he understood what was happening
I had already slipped into my bag.
Sank past mascara, sank
past tissues, sank past our yet to be signed
cohabitation agreement
and reached the bottom of my bag.
There I sat. Once in a while I would
stare upward to see a desperate man’s
hand reaching for me. I called
that hand God.
© 2021, David Colmer
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