Poem

antoine de kom

Side by side

Original language

MADE IN HONDURAS

with the aid of vicks and vim we declared ourselves a panorama, we became arab a sea of light somewhere in the desert that turned out to be different and more fully explained tulane and a view of the mississipi. We wore t-shirts made in honduras. there we recognised a city which kept our light-yellow presence hidden from its inhabitants. only our perfume recalled strolling through streets that turned out to be rules and in a district of pages the books we could easily cut open.

© Translation: 2014, Paul Vincent

MADE IN HONDURAS

MADE IN HONDURAS

met hulp van vicks en vim verklaarden we onszelf tot vergezicht. we werden arabisch
een lichtzee ergens in de woestijn die anders bleek en nader toegelicht tulane en uitzicht
op de mississipi. we droegen t-shirts made in honduras. daar herkenden we een stad die
onze lichtgele aanwezigheid voor zijn bewoners verborgen hield. alleen ons parfum
deed nog denken aan flaneren door straten die regels bleken en in een wijk van
bladzijden het boek dat we zo konden opensnijden.

© 2013, antoine de kom
From: ritmisch zonder string
Publisher: Querido, Amsterdam

antoine de kom

antoine de kom

(The Netherlands, 1956)

antoine de kom was born in The Hague in 1956 but spent his formative years in Paramaribo. From the age of ten until the age of fifteen he discovered there how great the difference can be between one’s idea of oneself and one’s actual image, he was surprised to discover how many people viewed him, grandson of Anton de Kom – famous campaigner for the black people’s cause – as a ‘white Dutchman’. ...

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Poems of antoine de kom

and we did

ah tamanrasset southwards oh death

we thought we knew we had once

what I miss mainly

we shall all one by one

somewhere in damascus

at a quarter to three local time

some horses have wheels and blankets against the rain

the loveliest buttocks in the world live on an island

in the institute for word and gesture

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MADE IN HONDURAS

with the aid of vicks and vim we declared ourselves a panorama, we became arab a sea of light somewhere in the desert that turned out to be different and more fully explained tulane and a view of the mississipi. We wore t-shirts made in honduras. there we recognised a city which kept our light-yellow presence hidden from its inhabitants. only our perfume recalled strolling through streets that turned out to be rules and in a district of pages the books we could easily cut open.

© 2014, Paul Vincent
From: ritmisch zonder string

MADE IN HONDURAS

with the aid of vicks and vim we declared ourselves a panorama, we became arab a sea of light somewhere in the desert that turned out to be different and more fully explained tulane and a view of the mississipi. We wore t-shirts made in honduras. there we recognised a city which kept our light-yellow presence hidden from its inhabitants. only our perfume recalled strolling through streets that turned out to be rules and in a district of pages the books we could easily cut open.

© 2014, Paul Vincent

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