Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rutger Kopland

AGAINST THE CREAKING GATE

And so we stood against the creaking gate,
as out of this world as horses are.

Again it was earth, muck, soir de paris,
an evening of where and when.

Forgotten verses surfaced inside me,
faint pastures, gentle, rhyming with night

but you whispered: here, here it is
best, where you are now, where you are

with your hands. And so we lay pressed
to the earth and to each other, while the gate

creaked with the restive horses.

TEGEN HET KRAKENDE HEK

TEGEN HET KRAKENDE HEK

Zo stonden wij tegen het krakende hek,
zo buiten de wereld als paarden.

Het was weer aarde, gier en soir de
paris, een avond van waar en wanneer.

In mij kwamen vergeten regels omhoog,
zachte op nacht rijmende landerijen,

maar jij fluisterde: hier, hier is het
het fijnste, waar je nu bent, waar je nu

bent met je handen. Zo lagen we tegen
de aarde en tegen elkaar, terwijl het hek

kraakte tegen de opdringende paarden.
Close

AGAINST THE CREAKING GATE

And so we stood against the creaking gate,
as out of this world as horses are.

Again it was earth, muck, soir de paris,
an evening of where and when.

Forgotten verses surfaced inside me,
faint pastures, gentle, rhyming with night

but you whispered: here, here it is
best, where you are now, where you are

with your hands. And so we lay pressed
to the earth and to each other, while the gate

creaked with the restive horses.

AGAINST THE CREAKING GATE

And so we stood against the creaking gate,
as out of this world as horses are.

Again it was earth, muck, soir de paris,
an evening of where and when.

Forgotten verses surfaced inside me,
faint pastures, gentle, rhyming with night

but you whispered: here, here it is
best, where you are now, where you are

with your hands. And so we lay pressed
to the earth and to each other, while the gate

creaked with the restive horses.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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