Poem
Willem Jan Otten
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Forced apart they swim towards each other,always in the same valley of sea
drawn between the swells
of two waves following each other.
Sometimes she disappears out of view
engulfed by the same swell
that’s raising him and now at the top
he sees her in the depths
in the quiet lee
and she climbs with calm strokes –
and he is now lost to her sight.
They take place in the same valley of time.
Their vanishing keeps the other alive.
© Translation: 2018, David Colmer
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: Van Oorschot, Amsterdam, 2018
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: Van Oorschot, Amsterdam, 2018
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Ze zwemmen uit elkaar gedreven naar elkaar,steeds in hetzelfde dal van zee
getrokken tussen twee elkaar te volgen golven.
Soms verdwijnt zij uit zijn blik
verzwolgen door dezelfde golf
die hem nu tilt en bovenaan
ziet hij haar in de diepte,
in de luwe stilte,
en zij klimt met kalme slag omhoog –
en nu is hij verloren uit haar oog.
Zij spelen in één dal van tijd.
Zij leven op elkaars verdwenen zijn.
© 2018, Willem Jan Otten
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Willem Jan Otten
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*
Forced apart they swim towards each other,always in the same valley of sea
drawn between the swells
of two waves following each other.
Sometimes she disappears out of view
engulfed by the same swell
that’s raising him and now at the top
he sees her in the depths
in the quiet lee
and she climbs with calm strokes –
and he is now lost to her sight.
They take place in the same valley of time.
Their vanishing keeps the other alive.
© 2018, David Colmer
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: 2018, Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: 2018, Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
*
Forced apart they swim towards each other,always in the same valley of sea
drawn between the swells
of two waves following each other.
Sometimes she disappears out of view
engulfed by the same swell
that’s raising him and now at the top
he sees her in the depths
in the quiet lee
and she climbs with calm strokes –
and he is now lost to her sight.
They take place in the same valley of time.
Their vanishing keeps the other alive.
© 2018, David Colmer
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: 2018, Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
From: Genadeklap
Publisher: 2018, Van Oorschot, Amsterdam
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