Poetry from the Low Countries: Asparagus by Manuel Kneepkens

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Asparagus by Manuel Kneepkens

Asparagus

On her most precious crystal plate
mother carried them in on Sundays
Asparagus
delicate, mouth-watering food
from the kitchen of the Seraphim & Cherubim

Rolled in slices of ham, sometimes
twined with parsley
but always with a crown
of eggs cut in halves - poached
& sprinkled with velvet butter sauce

''Thy Kingdom come....''
we prayed devoutly
''Especially in our embonpoints....''

And slurping
we imagined ourselves to be on Easter morning
in the garden of Resurrection

deep kissing
as Mary Magdalene once did
the, oh, so pallid rib cage of our risen Lord

(Original title: 'Asperges' - from: 'Au pays du tendre Moisan noir', 1993 - Uitgeverij Herik - Landgraaf)

Manuel Kneepkens [1942]

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Hans van den Bos

was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 1948.

In the late Sixties, after National Service, he began working in a bookshop, which he took over after a number of years. The shop, under his direction, became specialised in Literature, Modern Art and Architecture, containing one of the largest collections of poetry in the whole of The Netherlands.

He was invited, in the 1990's, by the former director of Poetry International, the late Martin Mooij, to display his poetry collection on a book stall at the annual festival in Rotterdam. In 1997 he closed the shop and 5 years later emigrated to Ireland, where he is presently busy as a writer and translator of poetry.

Contact: JohannesvandenBos@protonmail.com

Hilary Reynolds

Hilary Reynolds is an English/Dutch classical singer, music teacher and choral conductor, who was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1954.

She studied singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London and, after graduating in 1978, moved to The Netherlands, where she pursued a career as a concert singer and vocal coach. In 2002, she moved to Ireland, together with her husband, Hans van den Bos, where she had been invited by the Head of the Music Department of University College Cork to take up a post there teaching Vocal Studies, Art-Song and Opera.

For a number of years, she has collaborated with Hans van den Bos writing theatre shows and plays and assisted with translations of his own work as well as of other poets, including translations of Russian poetry by Anna Achmatova.