The mother the wife by M. Nijhoff

The mother the wife

M. Nijhoff - 1894-1953
photo Internet

I went to Bommel to see the bridge.

I saw the new bridge. Two opposites

seeming to avoid each other in the past,

become neighbours again. About ten minutes

that I lay there in the grass, drinking my tea,

my head full of the landscape far and wide -

leave me there in the middle of infinity

hearing a voice that resounded in my ears.

It was a woman. The ship she sailed

came slowly downstream through the bridge.

She was alone on deck, she stood at the helm,

and what she sang I heard were psalms.

Oh, I thought, oh, that my mother were sailing there.

Praise God, she sang, His hand will guide you.

Original title: De moeder de vrouw From: Nieuwe gedichten - Em. Querido's Uitgeverij - Amsterdam 1934