Poem
Bart Van der Straeten
and the trees
the here and the nowand the trees
there’s nothing else besides
not far off is beauty, greatness
that teeters or falls, the consolation
of a dead monument, the breath
of a thousand druids who sing
the thirst and the hunger of the birds
caved into the on high, yet staring
bemuredly into daughters’ eyes, collapse
under fear and expectation, loose
the days, the years
of toiling the soil. Hope,
and sinful repetition
that everything was said, has to become,
keep the peace, deprive the world
of her words, silence
the wolves.
© Translation: 2014, Astrid Alben
en de bomen
en de bomen
het hier en het nuen de bomen
meer in de grond is er
niet, niet ver weg het schone, het grote
dat wankelt of neervalt, de troost
van een dood monument, de adem
van duizend druïden die zingen
de dorst en de honger van vogels
gezwicht voor het hoge, verdwaasd
in de ogen van dochters nog kijken, bezwijken
aan angst en verwachting, de dagen
verliezen, de jaren
van werk in de aarde, hopen,
en heilloos herhalen
dat alles gezegd werd, moet worden,
de vrede bewaren, de wereld
haar woorden ontnemen, de wolven
doen zwijgen.
© 2014, Bart Van der Straeten
From: Onbalans
Publisher: Vrijdag, Antwerpen
From: Onbalans
Publisher: Vrijdag, Antwerpen
Poems
Poems of Bart Van der Straeten
Close
and the trees
the here and the nowand the trees
there’s nothing else besides
not far off is beauty, greatness
that teeters or falls, the consolation
of a dead monument, the breath
of a thousand druids who sing
the thirst and the hunger of the birds
caved into the on high, yet staring
bemuredly into daughters’ eyes, collapse
under fear and expectation, loose
the days, the years
of toiling the soil. Hope,
and sinful repetition
that everything was said, has to become,
keep the peace, deprive the world
of her words, silence
the wolves.
© 2014, Astrid Alben
From: Onbalans
From: Onbalans
and the trees
the here and the nowand the trees
there’s nothing else besides
not far off is beauty, greatness
that teeters or falls, the consolation
of a dead monument, the breath
of a thousand druids who sing
the thirst and the hunger of the birds
caved into the on high, yet staring
bemuredly into daughters’ eyes, collapse
under fear and expectation, loose
the days, the years
of toiling the soil. Hope,
and sinful repetition
that everything was said, has to become,
keep the peace, deprive the world
of her words, silence
the wolves.
© 2014, Astrid Alben
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