Poem
Han Dong
What I Said to Myself
1. at this moment
at this moment, I am mostly writing down
anything that comes into my mind
nothing’s happening
and so the twilight is an event
and there’s me
they swallow each other up
until one bloats
and the other shrinks to nearly nothing
2. turn for the worse
“Imagine an empty interior world.”
the outside of me is a void
but the inside is jampacked, a compact mass
one should take a turn for the worse
and observe the real outside: rivers and mountains,
a plant or a tree
while on the inside: mind open as a valley
3. in the future
in the future, things will happen
in a mood of expectation
of anticipation
when there is neither expectation nor anticipation
things will happen just the same
so that to feel an undaunted terror
as you’re hit by a train at a crossing
seems unnecessary
© Translation: 2006, Simon Patton
WHAT I SAID TO MYSELF
© 2003, Han Dong
Poems
Poems of Han Dong
Close
What I Said to Myself
1. at this moment
at this moment, I am mostly writing down
anything that comes into my mind
nothing’s happening
and so the twilight is an event
and there’s me
they swallow each other up
until one bloats
and the other shrinks to nearly nothing
2. turn for the worse
“Imagine an empty interior world.”
the outside of me is a void
but the inside is jampacked, a compact mass
one should take a turn for the worse
and observe the real outside: rivers and mountains,
a plant or a tree
while on the inside: mind open as a valley
3. in the future
in the future, things will happen
in a mood of expectation
of anticipation
when there is neither expectation nor anticipation
things will happen just the same
so that to feel an undaunted terror
as you’re hit by a train at a crossing
seems unnecessary
© 2006, Simon Patton
What I Said to Myself
1. at this moment
at this moment, I am mostly writing down
anything that comes into my mind
nothing’s happening
and so the twilight is an event
and there’s me
they swallow each other up
until one bloats
and the other shrinks to nearly nothing
2. turn for the worse
“Imagine an empty interior world.”
the outside of me is a void
but the inside is jampacked, a compact mass
one should take a turn for the worse
and observe the real outside: rivers and mountains,
a plant or a tree
while on the inside: mind open as a valley
3. in the future
in the future, things will happen
in a mood of expectation
of anticipation
when there is neither expectation nor anticipation
things will happen just the same
so that to feel an undaunted terror
as you’re hit by a train at a crossing
seems unnecessary
© 2006, Simon Patton
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère