Poem

Erik Spinoy

Audio Side by side

Original language

A wolf

A wolf
is like a house
with two gaps gaping:

one gap
that never knew a front door

the hollow
of the cellar\'s vent-hole.

Through empty windows
ivy and vine creep in,
taking over the rooms.

In cellars dwells
the invertebrate
that spins and spins
its blind circular course.

© Translation: 2003, Peter Nijmeijer
From: Dichters in het Elzenveld
Publisher: Revolver, Antwerp, 2003

Een wolf

Een wolf
is als een huis
waarin twee gaten gapen:

een gat
waar nooit een voordeur zat

de holte
van het keldergat.

Door lege ramen kruipt
klimop en wingerd binnen
en neemt kamers in bezit.

In kelders huist
het ongewervelde
en draait en draait
zijn blinde cirkelgang.

© 2002, Erik Spinoy
From: Boze Wolven
Publisher: Meulenhoff, Amsterdam

Erik Spinoy

Erik Spinoy

(Belgium, 1960)

Erik Spinoy is a poet and professor of Dutch literature at the University of Liège. His first collection of poetry, De jagers in de sneeuw (The Hunters in the Snow, 1986), was awarded the Flemish Debut Prize; his second collection, Susette (1990), the prestigious Hugues C. Pernath Prize. Partly thanks to the latter volume, Spinoy is, together with Dirk van Bastelaere, seen as one of the major r...

Countries

Discover other poems and poets from Belgium

Poems Poets

Languages

Discover other poems and poets in Dutch

Poems Poets

Poems

Poems of Erik Spinoy

Adolf, lucky wolf

Photo

A wolf

Take this flesh

Sometimes in a wolf’s body

It was an afternoon

Tigers, grizzlies, lynxes do it

Hot and clammy

He draws a line with piss

It was almost

Close

A wolf

A wolf
is like a house
with two gaps gaping:

one gap
that never knew a front door

the hollow
of the cellar\'s vent-hole.

Through empty windows
ivy and vine creep in,
taking over the rooms.

In cellars dwells
the invertebrate
that spins and spins
its blind circular course.

© 2003, Peter Nijmeijer
From: Dichters in het Elzenveld
Publisher: 2003, Revolver, Antwerp

A wolf

A wolf
is like a house
with two gaps gaping:

one gap
that never knew a front door

the hollow
of the cellar\'s vent-hole.

Through empty windows
ivy and vine creep in,
taking over the rooms.

In cellars dwells
the invertebrate
that spins and spins
its blind circular course.

© 2003, Peter Nijmeijer
From: Dichters in het Elzenveld
Publisher: 2003, Revolver, Antwerp

Sponsors

Partners

LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère