Poetry International Poetry International
Gedicht

Charles Mungoshi

MOUSE-TRAPPING

MOUSE-TRAPPING

MOUSE-TRAPPING

You must now be quite familiar
With the ways in which mice travel
All over under the stubble
In the newly-harvested fields.
The tracks are quite clear
And nearly all the same: mousy
You are likely to catch your mouse
On one track as on any other.
First of all,
Of course, you must have the tools
– Your flat stone, the size of a chair-seat
Your two ten-inch-long sticks
(The straight one is called the male
And the Y-shaped one is the female.)
Then the bit of strong string
With the matchstick-sized trigger
Tied to the end of the string
And the trap – a thin long straw
With the bait (preferably peanut butter) on it.
But second and most important of all,
Now I should really stop here
Because,
This is not really about
Setting up a mousetrap
This is about you:
Your total attention
The sincerity of your heart
To send the message to the sensitivity
At the tips of your fingers
Remember: the little mouse’s mother
Is teaching her child to look
At any tell-tale signs in the grass
And use her nose.
You need yourself tied up in a tight ball –
You need in a word,
All your balls!
You must get into the mind
Of the poor little mouse.
You must be the mouse.
Charles  Mungoshi

Charles Mungoshi

(Zimbabwe, 1947)

Landen

Ontdek andere dichters en gedichten uit Zimbabwe

Gedichten Dichters

Talen

Ontdek andere dichters en gedichten in het Engels

Gedichten Dichters
Close

MOUSE-TRAPPING

You must now be quite familiar
With the ways in which mice travel
All over under the stubble
In the newly-harvested fields.
The tracks are quite clear
And nearly all the same: mousy
You are likely to catch your mouse
On one track as on any other.
First of all,
Of course, you must have the tools
– Your flat stone, the size of a chair-seat
Your two ten-inch-long sticks
(The straight one is called the male
And the Y-shaped one is the female.)
Then the bit of strong string
With the matchstick-sized trigger
Tied to the end of the string
And the trap – a thin long straw
With the bait (preferably peanut butter) on it.
But second and most important of all,
Now I should really stop here
Because,
This is not really about
Setting up a mousetrap
This is about you:
Your total attention
The sincerity of your heart
To send the message to the sensitivity
At the tips of your fingers
Remember: the little mouse’s mother
Is teaching her child to look
At any tell-tale signs in the grass
And use her nose.
You need yourself tied up in a tight ball –
You need in a word,
All your balls!
You must get into the mind
Of the poor little mouse.
You must be the mouse.

MOUSE-TRAPPING

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