Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Lieke Marsman

You are the interviewer

You are the interviewer. You don’t talk much sense,
but you ask good questions (that I’ve given you)
and you look great. When you ask me about my childhood
it will not surprise me that you know all the secrets
I wrote in the margins. I don’t ask you any questions:
at another time, in another scenario,
I’ll be the interviewer in your head. Tell me again

about your father, who would gather gooseberries while he
taught you how to weed the garden, taught you the names of the weeds,
the flowers, what fathers do, and how you’re

making use of these skills later in life, now that
you’re frantically pulling the globe thistles from your heart,

you ask.

Jij bent de interviewer

Jij bent de interviewer

Jij bent de interviewer. Je zegt niet veel zinnigs,
maar je stelt goede vragen, die ik je aanreik
en je ziet er mooi uit. Als je me vraagt naar mijn jeugd,
zal het me niet verbazen dat je de geheimen kent
die ik de kantlijn inschoof. Ik stel geen wedervragen:
op een ander tijdstip, in een andere situatie
zal ik de interviewer zijn, in jouw hoofd. Vertel nog eens

over je vader, die van kruisbessen hield, terwijl hij je
leerde schoffelen, het onkruid leerde onderscheiden
van de bloemen, wat vaders doen, waar je

in later leven gretig gebruik van maakt, nu je
haastig de melkdistels je hart uit trekt,

vraag je.
Close

You are the interviewer

You are the interviewer. You don’t talk much sense,
but you ask good questions (that I’ve given you)
and you look great. When you ask me about my childhood
it will not surprise me that you know all the secrets
I wrote in the margins. I don’t ask you any questions:
at another time, in another scenario,
I’ll be the interviewer in your head. Tell me again

about your father, who would gather gooseberries while he
taught you how to weed the garden, taught you the names of the weeds,
the flowers, what fathers do, and how you’re

making use of these skills later in life, now that
you’re frantically pulling the globe thistles from your heart,

you ask.

You are the interviewer

You are the interviewer. You don’t talk much sense,
but you ask good questions (that I’ve given you)
and you look great. When you ask me about my childhood
it will not surprise me that you know all the secrets
I wrote in the margins. I don’t ask you any questions:
at another time, in another scenario,
I’ll be the interviewer in your head. Tell me again

about your father, who would gather gooseberries while he
taught you how to weed the garden, taught you the names of the weeds,
the flowers, what fathers do, and how you’re

making use of these skills later in life, now that
you’re frantically pulling the globe thistles from your heart,

you ask.
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