Poetry is an act...
Poetry
is an act
of endorsement. I endorse
that I live, that I do not just live.
of endorsement. I endorse
that I live, that I do not just live.
Poetry
is a future, thinking
of next week, of another country,
of you when you are old.
of next week, of another country,
of you when you are old.
Poetry is my breath,
moves
my feet, sometimes reluctantly,
over the earth that calls for it.
my feet, sometimes reluctantly,
over the earth that calls for it.
Voltaire had smallpox,
but
cured himself for instance by drinking
120 litres of lemonade: that's poetry.
cured himself for instance by drinking
120 litres of lemonade: that's poetry.
Or take the surf.
Smashed
on the rocks it is not really beaten,
but regains itself and is therefore poetry.
on the rocks it is not really beaten,
but regains itself and is therefore poetry.
Every word that is
written
is an attack on old age.
Death wins in the end, yes of course,
is an attack on old age.
Death wins in the end, yes of course,
but death is only the
silence in the hall
after the last word has sounded.
Death is a poignancy.
after the last word has sounded.
Death is a poignancy.
Original title: Poëzie is een daad... From: Het huis waarin ik woonde - Uitgeverij De Bezige Bij - Amsterdam - 1955.
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