Poem
Charlotte Van den Broeck
Växjö
There’s a lightness in the air that wrings.We look like kids washed up in the corner
of the playroom, fists bawling on the mat,
screaming that their bodies are bursting at the seams.
At noon we stare into the sun with bulging chameleon eyes,
the world smudged in coarse grease pencil lines.
There’s no noticeable difference between the hand and the table
just the transition of matter.
In the wavering image of magnified pixels
a girl’s hair sways in long ponytails, hair
that isn’t yet a trump card but a burden when she plays.
When she walks the tails swish like whips.
A lethargy weighs everything down:
more mass on top of the same surface area
causing things to tumble off somewhere
along the margins of the world.
There’s a lightness here that wrings.
As if it’s all just a marble alley
a way from up to down
until someone lifts us up again.
© Translation: 2015, Astrid Alben
Växjö
Växjö
Er heerst hier een lichtheid die tegenwringt.We lijken uitgespeelde kinderen in de hoek
van de speelkamer, die met hun vuisten op de mat
schreeuwen dat hun lichaam niet langer in hun omtrek past.
In het middaguur staren we met dikke kameleonogen in de zon.
De wereld veegt in grove wascolijnen.
Er is geen merkbaar verschil tussen de hand en de tafel
enkel de overgang van materie.
In de uitvergrote korrels van dansende pixelbeelden
zwiert het meisjeshaar in lange staarten, meisjeshaar
dat nog geen troef is, maar een last bij het spelen
bij het lopen zijn het net zwepen.
De loomheid drukt alles naar beneden:
meer massa op evenveel oppervlakte
waardoor er ergens aan de zijkanten van de wereld
dingen over de randen vallen.
Er heerst hier een lichtheid die tegenwringt.
Alsof het allemaal maar een knikkerbaan is
een weg van boven naar beneden
tot iemand ons weer optilt.
© 2015, Charlotte van den Broeck
From: Kameleon
Publisher: De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam/Antwerpen
From: Kameleon
Publisher: De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam/Antwerpen
Poems
Poems of Charlotte Van den Broeck
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Växjö
There’s a lightness in the air that wrings.We look like kids washed up in the corner
of the playroom, fists bawling on the mat,
screaming that their bodies are bursting at the seams.
At noon we stare into the sun with bulging chameleon eyes,
the world smudged in coarse grease pencil lines.
There’s no noticeable difference between the hand and the table
just the transition of matter.
In the wavering image of magnified pixels
a girl’s hair sways in long ponytails, hair
that isn’t yet a trump card but a burden when she plays.
When she walks the tails swish like whips.
A lethargy weighs everything down:
more mass on top of the same surface area
causing things to tumble off somewhere
along the margins of the world.
There’s a lightness here that wrings.
As if it’s all just a marble alley
a way from up to down
until someone lifts us up again.
© 2015, Astrid Alben
From: Kameleon
From: Kameleon
Växjö
There’s a lightness in the air that wrings.We look like kids washed up in the corner
of the playroom, fists bawling on the mat,
screaming that their bodies are bursting at the seams.
At noon we stare into the sun with bulging chameleon eyes,
the world smudged in coarse grease pencil lines.
There’s no noticeable difference between the hand and the table
just the transition of matter.
In the wavering image of magnified pixels
a girl’s hair sways in long ponytails, hair
that isn’t yet a trump card but a burden when she plays.
When she walks the tails swish like whips.
A lethargy weighs everything down:
more mass on top of the same surface area
causing things to tumble off somewhere
along the margins of the world.
There’s a lightness here that wrings.
As if it’s all just a marble alley
a way from up to down
until someone lifts us up again.
© 2015, Astrid Alben
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