Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Joke van Leeuwen

LONELY FUNERAL

The man of ash says, take my urn
by my waist, that’s right, like that
don’t scatter me here on the prescribed
lawn, on last year’s ashes. Scatter me

as a trail of crumbs where people hurry
and worry that this or that needs doing.
Lay my shrunken brain, my arthritic feet
under the rail of the fly-over

(a heap of no account, but still a heap)
so that as troubling dust I’ll still
blow somewhere on speeding cars.
Still light. Still there.

EENZAME UITVAART

EENZAME UITVAART

De man van as zegt: neem mijn urn
bij mijn middel vast, ja zo, verstrooi mij
niet hier op het voorgeschreven gras, op
ander as van vorig jaar. Verstrooi mij als

een kruimelspoor, daar waar men voort-
stapt en iets meent te moeten. Leg mijn
verkleinde brein, mijn reumavoeten
onder de leuning van het viaduct

(bergje van niks, maar wel een bergje)
dan waai ik zelf als storend stof
op snelle auto’s ergens heen.
Toch licht. Toch tegenwoordig.
Close

LONELY FUNERAL

The man of ash says, take my urn
by my waist, that’s right, like that
don’t scatter me here on the prescribed
lawn, on last year’s ashes. Scatter me

as a trail of crumbs where people hurry
and worry that this or that needs doing.
Lay my shrunken brain, my arthritic feet
under the rail of the fly-over

(a heap of no account, but still a heap)
so that as troubling dust I’ll still
blow somewhere on speeding cars.
Still light. Still there.

LONELY FUNERAL

The man of ash says, take my urn
by my waist, that’s right, like that
don’t scatter me here on the prescribed
lawn, on last year’s ashes. Scatter me

as a trail of crumbs where people hurry
and worry that this or that needs doing.
Lay my shrunken brain, my arthritic feet
under the rail of the fly-over

(a heap of no account, but still a heap)
so that as troubling dust I’ll still
blow somewhere on speeding cars.
Still light. Still there.
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