Poem
Ingrid de Kok
SOME THERE BE
SOME THERE BE
Some there be
‘There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.
And some there be, which have no memorial, who are perished as though they had never
been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.’
Apocrypha
Only the rustle of reeds
thin pipe smoke
a flickering paraffin lamp
women in blankets bent over
their faces lost to the light.
And remnants:
gate without hinges
stones in a half circle
afterbirths buried in silt.
Can the forgotten
be born again
into a land of names?
‘There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.
And some there be, which have no memorial, who are perished as though they had never
been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.’
Apocrypha
Only the rustle of reeds
thin pipe smoke
a flickering paraffin lamp
women in blankets bent over
their faces lost to the light.
And remnants:
gate without hinges
stones in a half circle
afterbirths buried in silt.
Can the forgotten
be born again
into a land of names?
© 2000, Ingrid de Kok
From: Terrestrial Things
Publisher: Snailpress/Kwela Books, South Africa
From: Terrestrial Things
Publisher: Snailpress/Kwela Books, South Africa
Poems
Poems of Ingrid de Kok
Close
SOME THERE BE
Some there be‘There be of them, that have left a name behind them, that their praises might be reported.
And some there be, which have no memorial, who are perished as though they had never
been; and are become as though they had never been born; and their children after them.’
Apocrypha
Only the rustle of reeds
thin pipe smoke
a flickering paraffin lamp
women in blankets bent over
their faces lost to the light.
And remnants:
gate without hinges
stones in a half circle
afterbirths buried in silt.
Can the forgotten
be born again
into a land of names?
From: Terrestrial Things
SOME THERE BE
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère