Poem
Rita Dove
Singsong
Opzegversje
Toen ik jong was, sprak de maan in raadselsen de sterren rijmden. Ik was een nieuw stuk speelgoed
dat wachtte tot mijn eigenaar me oppakte.
Toen ik jong was, joeg ik de dag op zijn knieën.
Er waren bomen om aan te hangen, krekels om te vangen.
Ik was een klein beetje lief, oneindig wreed,
gelikt in honing, vertroeteld in melk,
zonverbrand, zilverig en schurftig als een veulen.
En de wereld was al oud.
En ik was ouder dan vandaag.
© Vertaling: 2019, Jabik Veenbaas
Singsong
When I was young, the moon spoke in riddlesand the stars rhymed. I was a new toy
waiting for my owner to pick me up.
When I was young, I ran the day to its knees.
There were trees to swing on, crickets for capture.
I was narrowly sweet, infinitely cruel,
tongued in honey and coddled in milk,
sunburned and silvery and scabbed like a colt.
And the world was already old.
And I was older than I am today.
© 2016, Rita Dove
From: Collected Poems 1974-2004
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York
From: Collected Poems 1974-2004
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York
Poems
Poems of Rita Dove
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Singsong
When I was young, the moon spoke in riddlesand the stars rhymed. I was a new toy
waiting for my owner to pick me up.
When I was young, I ran the day to its knees.
There were trees to swing on, crickets for capture.
I was narrowly sweet, infinitely cruel,
tongued in honey and coddled in milk,
sunburned and silvery and scabbed like a colt.
And the world was already old.
And I was older than I am today.
From: Collected Poems 1974-2004
Singsong
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