Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Hannah van Binsbergen

WHERE IT BLOOMS AND ABOUNDS BLOOMING

1. You read as if possessed until you come up with a line of your own and don’t hesitate to place it at the top of your page as the flower that stems from your travels. Could there be a battlefield where I truly feel at home? It sits in the mouth like a word. The question that reverberates each day in underground spaces that are named sometimes yesterday and sometimes today but always with the ceremony that the past found so fantastic.
I have not lost my enthusiasm for the future.
I seriously have the idea that this is true.
Is there somebody who makes you realize you don’t understand what space is?
Is there somebody, now or in the future, who checks you on your facts?
We don't really have a world.
Say to what you encounter there, on the battlefield, in a drawer or in the river,
my heavens, is that you?
Are you the goodness that I seek?

2. Freedom at the university and transparency in management 
are worse than lies.
It sits in the mouth like a word.
It happened when a dead woman bequeathed the codes to her friends.
There is a place for everyone in obscenity.
Children and poets are allowed to cry.
Men are allowed to buy as many shoes as they want.
No one is allowed to take this path and everyone is welcome.
Dogs are allowed to cry.
Lonely boys are allowed everything.
Everyone says: it’s time to get drunk.
Now it’s time to change your mind.

They say that it has meaning
but I think that’s not so:
stupid things, careless things in the hours before death the flag
planted that we mark now as the beginning of a new era.
There must be something I don’t know, something to do with the church,
there is a hollow in my heaven,
but do not worry, there is forgiveness in my poison.

3. In the face of real struggle I am no coward:
no one strikes without knowing herself to be struck
it sits
in the mouth
and I don't know who
I don’t know who it is
Who can look down upon death like a pilot?
I am cowardly if I am asked to live through a keyhole,
and pain, oh yes, I am more than afraid of that. Pain that dominates our age,
Death is what it is: a military fiction. Even the youngest soldier knows this secret,
because no one knows what totally eludes him. What you see or don’t:
this is real pain.

4. These words have no future.
Then I would regard my beauty as a gift for the masses.
My interest in his body stems from blood and
lust and lyricism not as a function of a purer greater body that
we are always and already within: a true poetry is sexier.
We can’t conceal our youth.
See how much he says he wants me!
Seek out a different touch than the daily combinations with which
we are always in touch always outside us ceaselessly compelling and ceaselessly
to be defiled desire that can be deleted.
He is young like me and likes to see it as a joke even later
that night through the mist under the bridge through the light
under the stove I could say no one loves you like I do
but now it’s not working out anymore
the masses want to show you the way to her heart
engage in the struggle to show you her injuries
about which you can’t be bothered. I’ve begun to dream about it.
They say that to a certain extent limbs are interchangeable;
these things really get into your head.
A true wind drives other forces.
This was a bone that came from inside, wash your hands.
Tomorrow I will call him with a new line
these words of mine have no future. My body
is fantastic.

Waar het bloeit en blijft bloeien

Waar het bloeit en blijft bloeien

1.Je leest als bezeten tot je zelf met een zin komt en aarzelt niet die boven je blad te zetten als de bloem die voortkomt uit je reizen. Zou er een slagveld zijn waar ik me werkelijk thuis zou kunnen voelen? Het ligt in de mond als een woord. De vraag die elke dag weergalmt in ondergrondse ruimten die soms gisteren en soms vandaag genoemd zijn maar altijd met de plechtigheid die het verleden zo fantastisch vond.
Ik heb mijn enthousiasme voor de toekomst niet verloren.
Ik heb serieus het idee dat dit waar is.
Is er iemand die je laat beseffen dat je niet begrijpt wat ruimte is?
Is er iemand, nu of in de toekomst, die je aanspreekt op je feiten?
Wij hebben niet echt een wereld.
Zeg tegen wat je daar aantreft, op het slagveld, in een lade of in de rivier
mijn hemel, bent jij het?
Ben jij het goede dat ik zoek?

2.Vrijheid aan de universiteit en openheid in het beleid zijn erger dan leugens
Het ligt in de mond als een woord.
Het gebeurde toen een dode vrouw de codes doorgaf aan haar vrienden
Er is een plaats voor iedereen in de obsceniteit.
Kinderen en dichters mogen huilen.
Mannen mogen zo veel schoenen kopen als ze willen.
Niemand mag deze weg inslaan en iedereen is welkom.
Honden mogen huilen.
Eenzame jongens mogen alles.
Iedereen zegt: het is tijd om dronken te worden.
Het wordt tijd dat je je bedenkt.

Ze zeggen dat het zin heeft
Maar dat denk ik dus niet:
Domme dingen, zorgeloze dingen in de uren voor de dood de vlag
Plantte die we nu als het begin aanduiden van een tijdperk.
Er moet iets zijn wat ik niet weet wat met de kerk te maken heeft
Er is een holte in mijn hemel
Maar wees gerust er is vergeving in mijn gif.

3. In het gezicht van echte strijd ben ik geen lafaard:
Niemand slaat die zich niet zelf geslagen weet
het ligt
in de mond
en ik weet niet wie
ik weet niet wie het is
Wie kan er neerzien op de dood als een piloot?
Ik ben laf als mij gevraagd wordt door een sleutelgat te leven
En pijn, jawel, daar ben ik meer dan bang voor. Pijn die onze leeftijd domineert
De dood is wat hij is: een militaire fictie. Zelfs de jongste soldaat kent dit geheim, want
Niemand weet wat hem totaal ontgaat. Wat je ziet of niet:
Dat is pas pijn.

4.Deze woorden hebben geen toekomst.
Dan zou ik mijn schoonheid als gift aan de massa beschouwen.
Mijn interesse voor zijn lichaam stamt uit bloed en
lust en lyriek niet als functie van een puurder groter lichaam waar we
allemaal en altijd al in zijn: een ware poëzie is geiler.
Wij kunnen onze jeugd niet verbergen.
Zoals hij zegt hoeveel zin hij in me heeft!
Zoek naar een andere aanraking dan de dagelijkse combinaties waar we
altijd mee in aanraking staan altijd buiten ons om onophoudelijk dwingend en onophoudelijk
te verwonden verlangen dat kan vergeten.
Hij is jong net als ik en ziet het graag als een grap zelfs toen later
die avond door de mist onder de brug door het licht
onder het fornuis ik zou kunnen zeggen dat niemand je liefheeft zoals ik
maar dat werkt niet meer nu
de massa je de weg naar haar hart wil tonen
echte moeite doet om haar blessures te tonen
wat jou dus niet zo kan schelen. Ik ben begonnen daarover te dromen.
Ze zeggen dat ledematen tot op zekere hoogte vervangbaar zijn;
die dingen gaan in je hoofd zitten.
Een ware wind drijft andere krachten.
Dit was een bot dat van binnen kwam, was je handen.
Morgen bel ik hem op met een nieuwe zin
die woorden van mij hebben geen toekomst. Mijn lichaam
is fantastisch.
Close

WHERE IT BLOOMS AND ABOUNDS BLOOMING

1. You read as if possessed until you come up with a line of your own and don’t hesitate to place it at the top of your page as the flower that stems from your travels. Could there be a battlefield where I truly feel at home? It sits in the mouth like a word. The question that reverberates each day in underground spaces that are named sometimes yesterday and sometimes today but always with the ceremony that the past found so fantastic.
I have not lost my enthusiasm for the future.
I seriously have the idea that this is true.
Is there somebody who makes you realize you don’t understand what space is?
Is there somebody, now or in the future, who checks you on your facts?
We don't really have a world.
Say to what you encounter there, on the battlefield, in a drawer or in the river,
my heavens, is that you?
Are you the goodness that I seek?

2. Freedom at the university and transparency in management 
are worse than lies.
It sits in the mouth like a word.
It happened when a dead woman bequeathed the codes to her friends.
There is a place for everyone in obscenity.
Children and poets are allowed to cry.
Men are allowed to buy as many shoes as they want.
No one is allowed to take this path and everyone is welcome.
Dogs are allowed to cry.
Lonely boys are allowed everything.
Everyone says: it’s time to get drunk.
Now it’s time to change your mind.

They say that it has meaning
but I think that’s not so:
stupid things, careless things in the hours before death the flag
planted that we mark now as the beginning of a new era.
There must be something I don’t know, something to do with the church,
there is a hollow in my heaven,
but do not worry, there is forgiveness in my poison.

3. In the face of real struggle I am no coward:
no one strikes without knowing herself to be struck
it sits
in the mouth
and I don't know who
I don’t know who it is
Who can look down upon death like a pilot?
I am cowardly if I am asked to live through a keyhole,
and pain, oh yes, I am more than afraid of that. Pain that dominates our age,
Death is what it is: a military fiction. Even the youngest soldier knows this secret,
because no one knows what totally eludes him. What you see or don’t:
this is real pain.

4. These words have no future.
Then I would regard my beauty as a gift for the masses.
My interest in his body stems from blood and
lust and lyricism not as a function of a purer greater body that
we are always and already within: a true poetry is sexier.
We can’t conceal our youth.
See how much he says he wants me!
Seek out a different touch than the daily combinations with which
we are always in touch always outside us ceaselessly compelling and ceaselessly
to be defiled desire that can be deleted.
He is young like me and likes to see it as a joke even later
that night through the mist under the bridge through the light
under the stove I could say no one loves you like I do
but now it’s not working out anymore
the masses want to show you the way to her heart
engage in the struggle to show you her injuries
about which you can’t be bothered. I’ve begun to dream about it.
They say that to a certain extent limbs are interchangeable;
these things really get into your head.
A true wind drives other forces.
This was a bone that came from inside, wash your hands.
Tomorrow I will call him with a new line
these words of mine have no future. My body
is fantastic.

WHERE IT BLOOMS AND ABOUNDS BLOOMING

1. You read as if possessed until you come up with a line of your own and don’t hesitate to place it at the top of your page as the flower that stems from your travels. Could there be a battlefield where I truly feel at home? It sits in the mouth like a word. The question that reverberates each day in underground spaces that are named sometimes yesterday and sometimes today but always with the ceremony that the past found so fantastic.
I have not lost my enthusiasm for the future.
I seriously have the idea that this is true.
Is there somebody who makes you realize you don’t understand what space is?
Is there somebody, now or in the future, who checks you on your facts?
We don't really have a world.
Say to what you encounter there, on the battlefield, in a drawer or in the river,
my heavens, is that you?
Are you the goodness that I seek?

2. Freedom at the university and transparency in management 
are worse than lies.
It sits in the mouth like a word.
It happened when a dead woman bequeathed the codes to her friends.
There is a place for everyone in obscenity.
Children and poets are allowed to cry.
Men are allowed to buy as many shoes as they want.
No one is allowed to take this path and everyone is welcome.
Dogs are allowed to cry.
Lonely boys are allowed everything.
Everyone says: it’s time to get drunk.
Now it’s time to change your mind.

They say that it has meaning
but I think that’s not so:
stupid things, careless things in the hours before death the flag
planted that we mark now as the beginning of a new era.
There must be something I don’t know, something to do with the church,
there is a hollow in my heaven,
but do not worry, there is forgiveness in my poison.

3. In the face of real struggle I am no coward:
no one strikes without knowing herself to be struck
it sits
in the mouth
and I don't know who
I don’t know who it is
Who can look down upon death like a pilot?
I am cowardly if I am asked to live through a keyhole,
and pain, oh yes, I am more than afraid of that. Pain that dominates our age,
Death is what it is: a military fiction. Even the youngest soldier knows this secret,
because no one knows what totally eludes him. What you see or don’t:
this is real pain.

4. These words have no future.
Then I would regard my beauty as a gift for the masses.
My interest in his body stems from blood and
lust and lyricism not as a function of a purer greater body that
we are always and already within: a true poetry is sexier.
We can’t conceal our youth.
See how much he says he wants me!
Seek out a different touch than the daily combinations with which
we are always in touch always outside us ceaselessly compelling and ceaselessly
to be defiled desire that can be deleted.
He is young like me and likes to see it as a joke even later
that night through the mist under the bridge through the light
under the stove I could say no one loves you like I do
but now it’s not working out anymore
the masses want to show you the way to her heart
engage in the struggle to show you her injuries
about which you can’t be bothered. I’ve begun to dream about it.
They say that to a certain extent limbs are interchangeable;
these things really get into your head.
A true wind drives other forces.
This was a bone that came from inside, wash your hands.
Tomorrow I will call him with a new line
these words of mine have no future. My body
is fantastic.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère