Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Lieke Marsman

Literary event in church

The unshaven author steps to the front.
The first part of the reading, a coming-of-age story
about Lombardy, he dedicates to his parents.
He once got lost somewhere by Lake Como
and now owes his life to an asparagus farmer.

He says: this next poem
is about living together for the first time.
Living together is not something that you do alone!
Except for the first time, when you
don’t really know yourself yet and it’s all about
the other, which makes you wonder
whether ‘living together’ is in fact
the best way to put it.

Your gaze moves over the figures on the wall and you think
about going on holiday to the Great Aletsch Glacier. You have
seen the Matterhorn in clear weather,
and the Zugspitze too. You have been
in an ice cave on two separate occasions. Once
in the Ardennes. You can’t quite believe
how quiet the church is here in the middle
of the city, as though the road to God
weren’t full of people in cars
sounding their horns, one after the other.

Boekbespreking in kerk

Boekbespreking in kerk

De ongeschoren auteur stapt naar voren.
Het eerste hoofdstuk, een jeugdverhaal
over Lombardije, draagt hij op aan zijn ouders.
Hij is eens verdwaald bij het Comomeer
en dankt zijn leven aan een aspergeboer.

Hij zegt: het volgende gedicht
gaat over samenwonen voor het eerst.
Samenwonen doe je niet alleen!
Behalve de eerste keer, als je jezelf
nog niet kent en het een kwestie is van:
alleen de ander. In dat geval
zou je kunnen stellen dat samenwonen
inderdaad geen goede benaming is.

Jij dwaalt de wandfiguren langs en denkt
aan op vakantie bij de Aletschgletsjer. Je hebt
de Matterhorn gezien bij helder weer,
net als de Zugspitze. Je bent twee keer
in een ijsgrot geweest. Eenmaal
in de Ardennen. Je kunt niet geloven
hoe stil een kerk is in het midden
van de stad, alsof de weg naar God
niet vol is met mensen die één
voor één op de claxon drukken.
Close

Literary event in church

The unshaven author steps to the front.
The first part of the reading, a coming-of-age story
about Lombardy, he dedicates to his parents.
He once got lost somewhere by Lake Como
and now owes his life to an asparagus farmer.

He says: this next poem
is about living together for the first time.
Living together is not something that you do alone!
Except for the first time, when you
don’t really know yourself yet and it’s all about
the other, which makes you wonder
whether ‘living together’ is in fact
the best way to put it.

Your gaze moves over the figures on the wall and you think
about going on holiday to the Great Aletsch Glacier. You have
seen the Matterhorn in clear weather,
and the Zugspitze too. You have been
in an ice cave on two separate occasions. Once
in the Ardennes. You can’t quite believe
how quiet the church is here in the middle
of the city, as though the road to God
weren’t full of people in cars
sounding their horns, one after the other.

Literary event in church

The unshaven author steps to the front.
The first part of the reading, a coming-of-age story
about Lombardy, he dedicates to his parents.
He once got lost somewhere by Lake Como
and now owes his life to an asparagus farmer.

He says: this next poem
is about living together for the first time.
Living together is not something that you do alone!
Except for the first time, when you
don’t really know yourself yet and it’s all about
the other, which makes you wonder
whether ‘living together’ is in fact
the best way to put it.

Your gaze moves over the figures on the wall and you think
about going on holiday to the Great Aletsch Glacier. You have
seen the Matterhorn in clear weather,
and the Zugspitze too. You have been
in an ice cave on two separate occasions. Once
in the Ardennes. You can’t quite believe
how quiet the church is here in the middle
of the city, as though the road to God
weren’t full of people in cars
sounding their horns, one after the other.
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