Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Mark Boog

OUR LIGHTNESS

There is also salt in the sea but the salt in the ground is more costly.
We dig until digging has become second nature to us,
underground. (Dive in as laboriously as possible,
that’s what we do, and always come up spluttering,
constantly threatening not to come up.)

We want the deep, we want the heavy, we want the dark.
But we bring along dependable lamps
and due to our essential lightness we always
come back up. We’re not as simple souls as all that.
(We of all people aren’t such simple souls.) We are oysters.

ONZE LICHTHEID

ONZE LICHTHEID

Er is ook zout in de zee maar het zout in de grond is duurder.
We graven tot graven ons een tweede natuur is geworden,
onderaards. (Zo omslachtig mogelijk onderduiken,
dat doen we, en altijd proestend bovenkomen,
steeds dreigen niet boven te komen.)

We willen diep, we willen zwaar, we willen donker.
Maar we nemen betrouwbare lampen mee
en we komen door onze essentiële lichtheid
altijd bovendrijven. Wij zijn zulke simpele geesten nog niet.
(Uitgerekend wij zijn zulke simpele geesten niet.) Wij zijn oesters.
Close

OUR LIGHTNESS

There is also salt in the sea but the salt in the ground is more costly.
We dig until digging has become second nature to us,
underground. (Dive in as laboriously as possible,
that’s what we do, and always come up spluttering,
constantly threatening not to come up.)

We want the deep, we want the heavy, we want the dark.
But we bring along dependable lamps
and due to our essential lightness we always
come back up. We’re not as simple souls as all that.
(We of all people aren’t such simple souls.) We are oysters.

OUR LIGHTNESS

There is also salt in the sea but the salt in the ground is more costly.
We dig until digging has become second nature to us,
underground. (Dive in as laboriously as possible,
that’s what we do, and always come up spluttering,
constantly threatening not to come up.)

We want the deep, we want the heavy, we want the dark.
But we bring along dependable lamps
and due to our essential lightness we always
come back up. We’re not as simple souls as all that.
(We of all people aren’t such simple souls.) We are oysters.
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