Poem

Ilya Kaminsky

Side by side

Dutch

Original language

LULLABY

SLAAPLIEDJE

Kleine dochter
regenwater

sneeuw en takken beschermen je
witgekalkte muren

en handen van buren, alles
Kind van mijn aprilmaanden

kleine aarde van
zes pond

mijn witte haar
houdt je slaap verlicht

LULLABY

Little daughter
rainwater

snow and branches protect you
whitewashed walls

and neighbors’ hands, all
Child of my Aprils

little earth of
six pounds

my white hair
keeps your sleep lit

Ilya Kaminsky

(Ukraine, 1977)

Quick introduction

As Ilya Kaminsky says, "Everyday life is a wonderful thing and to be quite honest it is all we have.” To Kaminsky, poetry is about creating a parallel reality, and thus creating freedom. He was born in Odessa, in the former Soviet Union (now Ukraine), but he and his family moved to the US in 1993. In his early youth, Kaminsky's deafness was overlooked. Like himself, the char...