Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Rutger Kopland

LIKE THE PAGES OF A NEWSPAPER

Like the pages of a newspaper
flapping slowly to and fro in the grass
and it is not the wind
that is doing this,

as when of an evening, a blanket,
left outdoors, lies as though it lay
asleep, and it is not the blanket,
so near it is

to being nothing, nothing but the grieving
gesture of a hand, the vulnerable
attitude of a body,

and there is no hand, there is
no body, while I, after all,
am so close.

ALS DE PAGINA’S VAN EEN KRANT

ALS DE PAGINA’S VAN EEN KRANT

Zoals de pagina’s van een krant
in het gras langzaam om
slaan in de wind, en het is de wind
niet, die dit doet,

zoals wanneer een deken in de avond,
buiten, ligt alsof hij ligt
te slapen, en het is de deken
niet, zo

niets is het, niets dan de verdrietige
beweging van een hand, de weerloze
houding van een lichaam,

en er is geen hand, er is
geen lichaam, terwijl ik toch
zo dichtbij ben.
Close

LIKE THE PAGES OF A NEWSPAPER

Like the pages of a newspaper
flapping slowly to and fro in the grass
and it is not the wind
that is doing this,

as when of an evening, a blanket,
left outdoors, lies as though it lay
asleep, and it is not the blanket,
so near it is

to being nothing, nothing but the grieving
gesture of a hand, the vulnerable
attitude of a body,

and there is no hand, there is
no body, while I, after all,
am so close.

LIKE THE PAGES OF A NEWSPAPER

Like the pages of a newspaper
flapping slowly to and fro in the grass
and it is not the wind
that is doing this,

as when of an evening, a blanket,
left outdoors, lies as though it lay
asleep, and it is not the blanket,
so near it is

to being nothing, nothing but the grieving
gesture of a hand, the vulnerable
attitude of a body,

and there is no hand, there is
no body, while I, after all,
am so close.
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
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère