Poem
Luuk Gruwez
Hell under a skirt
Barely she still calls me mister,the shrew that’s training me.
Disguised as the dog of the house,
I must sniff at her existence
and bark when something is suspicious.
For she has the corrupted mind
of one who has been lonely a long time.
I follow the rolled hem of her skirt,
must come along to butcher and to baker,
in the evening do my tricks to get a bone,
in the morning on her counterpane I wake.
The things of which I am ashamed
are not the things that I have done,
but that I only craved:
I do want to bite into her calves,
But my teeth are no longer sharp.
© Translation: 1991, Ria Leigh-Loohuizen & Poetry International
Publisher: Poetry International, Rotterdam, 1991
Publisher: Poetry International, Rotterdam, 1991
De hel onder een rok
De hel onder een rok
Zij noemt mij zelden nog meneer,de helleveeg die mij dresseert.
Ik ga vermomd als hond des huizes,
moet snuffelen aan haar bestaan
en keffen als er iets niet pluis is.
Want zij heeft de verdorven geest
van wie lang eenzaam is geweest.
Ik volg de krielzoom van haar rok,
moet mee naar slager en naar bakker;
doe ’s avonds kunstjes voor een been,
word ’s ochtends op haar bedsprei wakker.
De dingen waar ik mij voor schaam
zijn niet de dingen die ik heb gedaan,
maar die ik enkel heb begeerd:
ik wíl wel in haar kuiten bijten,
maar heb geen scherpe tanden meer.
© 1990, Luuk Gruwez
From: Bandeloze gedichten
Publisher: De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam
From: Bandeloze gedichten
Publisher: De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Luuk Gruwez
Close
Hell under a skirt
Barely she still calls me mister,the shrew that’s training me.
Disguised as the dog of the house,
I must sniff at her existence
and bark when something is suspicious.
For she has the corrupted mind
of one who has been lonely a long time.
I follow the rolled hem of her skirt,
must come along to butcher and to baker,
in the evening do my tricks to get a bone,
in the morning on her counterpane I wake.
The things of which I am ashamed
are not the things that I have done,
but that I only craved:
I do want to bite into her calves,
But my teeth are no longer sharp.
© 1991, Ria Leigh-Loohuizen & Poetry International
From: Bandeloze gedichten
Publisher: 1991, Poetry International, Rotterdam
From: Bandeloze gedichten
Publisher: 1991, Poetry International, Rotterdam
Hell under a skirt
Barely she still calls me mister,the shrew that’s training me.
Disguised as the dog of the house,
I must sniff at her existence
and bark when something is suspicious.
For she has the corrupted mind
of one who has been lonely a long time.
I follow the rolled hem of her skirt,
must come along to butcher and to baker,
in the evening do my tricks to get a bone,
in the morning on her counterpane I wake.
The things of which I am ashamed
are not the things that I have done,
but that I only craved:
I do want to bite into her calves,
But my teeth are no longer sharp.
© 1991, Ria Leigh-Loohuizen & Poetry International
Publisher: 1991, Poetry International, Rotterdam
Publisher: 1991, Poetry International, Rotterdam
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