Poem
Arjen Duinker
Quinta das Esmoutadas, for Ema
To cross a sea is identicalTo the honour of your family,
The washing machine and the mule
And the musculature of clouds.
Exactly the way the clothes-peg is not
Identical to the question posed
By a returning cosmonaut,
So it is with vein and tail.
In all fairness it must be said
That a twig from a grapevine
Is a perfect and extreme weapon.
The indicators in the earth
After all, turn at variable speed
And don’t vie for anything identical.
© Translation: 2002, Willem Groenewegen
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: Arc Publications, Todmorden, 2002
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: Arc Publications, Todmorden, 2002
Quinta das Esmoutadas, voor Ema
Quinta das Esmoutadas, voor Ema
Een zee oversteken is identiekAan de eer van jouw familie,
De wasmachine en de ezel
En de musculatuur van wolken.
Precies zoals de wasknijper niet
Identiek is aan de vraag gesteld
Door een teruggekeerde kosmonaut,
Zo is het ook met nerf en staart.
Voor de goede orde dient gezegd
Dat een twijgje van de druivenboom
Een perfect en uiterst wapen is.
De wijzers in de aarde draaien
Immers met wisselende snelheid
En schermen niet om iets identieks
© 2000, Arjen Duinker
From: De geschiedenis van een opsomming. Gedichten
Publisher: J.M. Meulenhoff bv, Amsterdam
From: De geschiedenis van een opsomming. Gedichten
Publisher: J.M. Meulenhoff bv, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Arjen Duinker
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Quinta das Esmoutadas, for Ema
To cross a sea is identicalTo the honour of your family,
The washing machine and the mule
And the musculature of clouds.
Exactly the way the clothes-peg is not
Identical to the question posed
By a returning cosmonaut,
So it is with vein and tail.
In all fairness it must be said
That a twig from a grapevine
Is a perfect and extreme weapon.
The indicators in the earth
After all, turn at variable speed
And don’t vie for anything identical.
© 2002, Willem Groenewegen
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: 2002, Arc Publications, Todmorden
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: 2002, Arc Publications, Todmorden
Quinta das Esmoutadas, for Ema
To cross a sea is identicalTo the honour of your family,
The washing machine and the mule
And the musculature of clouds.
Exactly the way the clothes-peg is not
Identical to the question posed
By a returning cosmonaut,
So it is with vein and tail.
In all fairness it must be said
That a twig from a grapevine
Is a perfect and extreme weapon.
The indicators in the earth
After all, turn at variable speed
And don’t vie for anything identical.
© 2002, Willem Groenewegen
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: 2002, Arc Publications, Todmorden
From: The Sublime Song of a Maybe
Publisher: 2002, Arc Publications, Todmorden
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