Poem
Nachoem M. Wijnberg
SOMETHING ELSE
When I was a child I could have pretended I was sleeping next to someone I loved,perhaps later I would have needed less nights to learn how.
All the things I shouldn’t have done when I was a child, didn’t I have anything else to do then,
every night I tried to imagine what it would be like if I loved someone, isn’t that enough?
If I can say that I am so slow that I always arrive late, I have something,
if I can say that there are more examples than necessary, I can take one back.
My father said that it helped to think of something I can look at for a long time,
a sailing ship on the water, for instance, or hatever I can look at for a long time.
Poetry is making meaning, not something else,
each time Ghalib thinks up a new meaning God wants him to exchange it for something else.
A poem brings the day of decision closer, a dream about a poem gives a day’s respite,
where words mean something, Ghalib’s are law.
© Translation: 2009, David Colmer
IETS ANDERS
IETS ANDERS
Toen ik een kind was had ik kunnen doen alsof ik sliep naast wie ik liefhad,misschien had ik later minder nachten nodig gehad om te leren hoe.
Wat ik allemaal niet had moeten doen toen ik een kind was, had ik toen niets anders te doen,
ik heb elke nacht geprobeerd te bedenken hoe het zou zijn als ik iemand liefhad, is dat niet genoeg?
Als ik kan zeggen dat ik zo langzaam ben dat ik altijd te laat kom, dan heb ik iets,
als ik kan zeggen dat het meer voorbeelden zijn dan nodig, dan kan ik er één terugnemen.
Mijn vader zei dat het hielp aan iets te denken waar ik lang naar kon kijken,
bijvoorbeeld een zeilschip op het water, of kies maar uit waar ik lang naar kon kijken.
Poëzie is het maken van betekenis, niet van iets anders,
elke keer dat Ghalib een nieuwe betekenis bedenkt wil God die met hem ruilen voor iets anders.
Een gedicht brengt de dag dat besloten wordt dichterbij, een droom van een gedicht geeft een dag uitstel,
waar woorden iets betekenen zijn die van Ghalib de wet.
From: Divan van Ghalib
Publisher: Contact, Amsterdam
Publisher: Contact, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Nachoem M. Wijnberg
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SOMETHING ELSE
When I was a child I could have pretended I was sleeping next to someone I loved,perhaps later I would have needed less nights to learn how.
All the things I shouldn’t have done when I was a child, didn’t I have anything else to do then,
every night I tried to imagine what it would be like if I loved someone, isn’t that enough?
If I can say that I am so slow that I always arrive late, I have something,
if I can say that there are more examples than necessary, I can take one back.
My father said that it helped to think of something I can look at for a long time,
a sailing ship on the water, for instance, or hatever I can look at for a long time.
Poetry is making meaning, not something else,
each time Ghalib thinks up a new meaning God wants him to exchange it for something else.
A poem brings the day of decision closer, a dream about a poem gives a day’s respite,
where words mean something, Ghalib’s are law.
© 2009, David Colmer
From: Divan van Ghalib
From: Divan van Ghalib
SOMETHING ELSE
When I was a child I could have pretended I was sleeping next to someone I loved,perhaps later I would have needed less nights to learn how.
All the things I shouldn’t have done when I was a child, didn’t I have anything else to do then,
every night I tried to imagine what it would be like if I loved someone, isn’t that enough?
If I can say that I am so slow that I always arrive late, I have something,
if I can say that there are more examples than necessary, I can take one back.
My father said that it helped to think of something I can look at for a long time,
a sailing ship on the water, for instance, or hatever I can look at for a long time.
Poetry is making meaning, not something else,
each time Ghalib thinks up a new meaning God wants him to exchange it for something else.
A poem brings the day of decision closer, a dream about a poem gives a day’s respite,
where words mean something, Ghalib’s are law.
© 2009, David Colmer
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