Poem
Alfred Schaffer
TEMPERAMENT YOU KNOW THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
in the opening shot my love walks onto the dancefloorand dares to just dance with anybody.
my love belongs to me as much as to you
as much as to black-and-white open air musicals.
my love with her strong left ventricle her world-class athlete’s heart.
the way she shines in the dazzling vapours
of the rhythmic light.
my love doesn’t skate on thin ice
she doesn’t fix her anxious gaze on a way out
she rages like an electric storm.
breathlessly my love says thank you for the war.
my love at the edge of the heliosphere –
she is no longer illuminated there.
doesn’t make a sound.
farts from time to time.
my love is a message to myself: hi there.
my love licks me forth and you
remain slumped at the bottom of my mind
like a marionette without strings.
I swear this now I can never
disappear again.
© Translation: 2021, Michele Hutchison
TEMPERAMENT WEET U WEL DE AARD VAN HET BEESTJE
TEMPERAMENT WEET U WEL DE AARD VAN HET BEESTJE
in het openingsshot stapt mijn liefde de dansvloer open waagt met om het even wie een dansje.
mijn liefde is evenzeer van mij als
van u als van de zwart-witte openluchtmusicals.
mijn liefde met haar krasse linkerhartkamer haar topsporthart.
hoe ze straalt in de flitsende dampen
van het ritmische licht.
mijn liefde gaat niet over één nacht ijs
ze richt haar angstvallige blik niet op een uitweg
ze gaat tekeer als een elektrische storm.
buiten adem zegt mijn liefde dank u wel voor de oorlog.
mijn liefde aan de rand van de heliosfeer –
daar wordt ze niet langer beschenen.
geeft ze geen kik.
af en toe laat ze een scheetje.
mijn liefde is een bericht aan mijzelf: hallo daar.
mijn liefde likt mij tevoorschijn en u
blijft ineengezakt achter op de bodem van mijn geest
als een marionet zonder touwtjes.
ik zweer het nu
kan ik nooit meer verdwijnen.
© 2020, Alfred Schaffer
From: Wie was ik. strafregels
Publisher: De Bezige Bij,
From: Wie was ik. strafregels
Publisher: De Bezige Bij,
Poems
Poems of Alfred Schaffer
Close
TEMPERAMENT YOU KNOW THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
in the opening shot my love walks onto the dancefloorand dares to just dance with anybody.
my love belongs to me as much as to you
as much as to black-and-white open air musicals.
my love with her strong left ventricle her world-class athlete’s heart.
the way she shines in the dazzling vapours
of the rhythmic light.
my love doesn’t skate on thin ice
she doesn’t fix her anxious gaze on a way out
she rages like an electric storm.
breathlessly my love says thank you for the war.
my love at the edge of the heliosphere –
she is no longer illuminated there.
doesn’t make a sound.
farts from time to time.
my love is a message to myself: hi there.
my love licks me forth and you
remain slumped at the bottom of my mind
like a marionette without strings.
I swear this now I can never
disappear again.
© 2021, Michele Hutchison
From: Wie was ik. strafregels
From: Wie was ik. strafregels
TEMPERAMENT YOU KNOW THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
in the opening shot my love walks onto the dancefloorand dares to just dance with anybody.
my love belongs to me as much as to you
as much as to black-and-white open air musicals.
my love with her strong left ventricle her world-class athlete’s heart.
the way she shines in the dazzling vapours
of the rhythmic light.
my love doesn’t skate on thin ice
she doesn’t fix her anxious gaze on a way out
she rages like an electric storm.
breathlessly my love says thank you for the war.
my love at the edge of the heliosphere –
she is no longer illuminated there.
doesn’t make a sound.
farts from time to time.
my love is a message to myself: hi there.
my love licks me forth and you
remain slumped at the bottom of my mind
like a marionette without strings.
I swear this now I can never
disappear again.
© 2021, Michele Hutchison
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