Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Ed Leeflang

ODE

She gives them an assignment,
and immediately they get lost;
her tiredness increases while
she sees their eyes glaze over.
There\'s probably a law
that governs things like that.

For this they were not taken
from a Berber settlement
and put in a bright reading-nook
beside the guinea pig.

You could still talk to them
at the entrance of the school.
Now they sit on the barren sand,
an emptiness of silence,
in the landscape of the group.

She takes an evening course
so she can quickly learn
the patient speech of stones.
This Babylonian job
requires that too.

Zij duwt ze in een opdracht

Zij duwt ze in een opdracht
waarin ze zich meteen verwarren;
haar moeheid groeit, terwijl
ze hun gezichten ziet verstarren.
Het zal berusten op een zeer
exacte wet.

Niet hiervoor zijn ze uit
een Berberdorp gehaald en op
het vrolijk boekenhoekje naast
de cavia gezet.

Aanspreekbaar waren zij
zojuist nog op de stoep.
Nu zitten zij in een leeg zand,
een uitgespaarde stilte
in het landschap van de groep.

Zij volgt een cursus
om het oergeduld waarmee de stenen
spreken snel op te doen.
Ook dat vereist
dit Babylonische beroep.
Close

ODE

She gives them an assignment,
and immediately they get lost;
her tiredness increases while
she sees their eyes glaze over.
There\'s probably a law
that governs things like that.

For this they were not taken
from a Berber settlement
and put in a bright reading-nook
beside the guinea pig.

You could still talk to them
at the entrance of the school.
Now they sit on the barren sand,
an emptiness of silence,
in the landscape of the group.

She takes an evening course
so she can quickly learn
the patient speech of stones.
This Babylonian job
requires that too.

ODE

She gives them an assignment,
and immediately they get lost;
her tiredness increases while
she sees their eyes glaze over.
There\'s probably a law
that governs things like that.

For this they were not taken
from a Berber settlement
and put in a bright reading-nook
beside the guinea pig.

You could still talk to them
at the entrance of the school.
Now they sit on the barren sand,
an emptiness of silence,
in the landscape of the group.

She takes an evening course
so she can quickly learn
the patient speech of stones.
This Babylonian job
requires that too.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère