Poem
Toon Tellegen
YES AND NO
Yes has a task:it protects people.
It kisses them and tucks them in,
tidies up the love left lying around
and sends prying eyes packing:
the people are asleep, they\'ve been playing, they\'re tired.
But sometimes Yes breaks –
along one of the famous lines of unbearableness –
and bleeds.
Blood flows across the floor through the corridor down the stairs
onto the street
(“must flow! must flow!” whisper the silk slippers
under the bed,
whisper the geraniums at the window, whispers a table lamp)
and the people turn their backs to each other
and go on sleeping,
on and on.
(No keeps its ear to their door.)
© Translation: 2004, Judith Wilkinson
Previously published in The Literary Review
JA EN NEE
JA EN NEE
Ja heeft een taak:het behoedt de mensen.
Het kust ze en dekt ze toe,
ruimt de liefde op die ze laten slingeren
en stuurt nieuwsgierigen weg:
de mensen slapen, ze hebben gespeeld, ze zijn moe.
Maar soms breekt Ja –
langs een van de beroemde lijnen van ondraaglijkheid –
en bloedt.
Bloed stroomt over de vloer door de gang de trap af
de straat op
(“moet stromen! moet stromen!” fluisteren de zijden pantoffels
onder het bed,
fluisteren de geraniums voor het raam, fluistert een schemerlamp)
en de mensen draaien hun rug naar elkaar toe
en slapen verder,
steeds verder.
(Nee houdt zijn oor tegen hun deur.)
© 2001, Toon Tellegen
From: Gedichten 1977-1999
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
From: Gedichten 1977-1999
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Toon Tellegen
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YES AND NO
Yes has a task:it protects people.
It kisses them and tucks them in,
tidies up the love left lying around
and sends prying eyes packing:
the people are asleep, they\'ve been playing, they\'re tired.
But sometimes Yes breaks –
along one of the famous lines of unbearableness –
and bleeds.
Blood flows across the floor through the corridor down the stairs
onto the street
(“must flow! must flow!” whisper the silk slippers
under the bed,
whisper the geraniums at the window, whispers a table lamp)
and the people turn their backs to each other
and go on sleeping,
on and on.
(No keeps its ear to their door.)
© 2004, Judith Wilkinson
From: Gedichten 1977-1999
From: Gedichten 1977-1999
YES AND NO
Yes has a task:it protects people.
It kisses them and tucks them in,
tidies up the love left lying around
and sends prying eyes packing:
the people are asleep, they\'ve been playing, they\'re tired.
But sometimes Yes breaks –
along one of the famous lines of unbearableness –
and bleeds.
Blood flows across the floor through the corridor down the stairs
onto the street
(“must flow! must flow!” whisper the silk slippers
under the bed,
whisper the geraniums at the window, whispers a table lamp)
and the people turn their backs to each other
and go on sleeping,
on and on.
(No keeps its ear to their door.)
© 2004, Judith Wilkinson
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