Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Daniel Jonas

My poem had a nervous breakdown

My poem had a nervous breakdown.
It cannot bear words any longer.
It tells the words: words
go thither,
to another poem
where thou can live.

This sort of thing can happen to my poem
from time to time.
I can picture it: spread all over
the white linen bed
without prospect or desire

locked into silence
pale
like a chlorotic poem.

I ask: can I do anything for thee?
but it just stares at me;
it sits there looking empty-eyed
dry mouthed.

My poem had a nervous breakdown

O meu poema teve um esgotamento nervoso.
Já não suporta mais as palavras.
Diz às palavras: palavras
ide embora,
ide procurar outro poema
onde habitar.

O meu poema tem destas coisas
de vez em quando.
Posso vê-lo: ali distendido
em cama de linho muito branco
sem perspectivas ou desejo

quedando-se num silêncio
pálido
como um poema clorótico.

Pergunto-lhe: posso fazer alguma coisa por ti?
mas apenas me fixa o olhar;
fica a li a fitar-me de olhos vazios
e boca seca.
Close

My poem had a nervous breakdown

My poem had a nervous breakdown.
It cannot bear words any longer.
It tells the words: words
go thither,
to another poem
where thou can live.

This sort of thing can happen to my poem
from time to time.
I can picture it: spread all over
the white linen bed
without prospect or desire

locked into silence
pale
like a chlorotic poem.

I ask: can I do anything for thee?
but it just stares at me;
it sits there looking empty-eyed
dry mouthed.

My poem had a nervous breakdown

My poem had a nervous breakdown.
It cannot bear words any longer.
It tells the words: words
go thither,
to another poem
where thou can live.

This sort of thing can happen to my poem
from time to time.
I can picture it: spread all over
the white linen bed
without prospect or desire

locked into silence
pale
like a chlorotic poem.

I ask: can I do anything for thee?
but it just stares at me;
it sits there looking empty-eyed
dry mouthed.
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