Poetry from the Low Countries: ‘John Akii Bua by Bert Schierbeek

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

‘John Akii Bua by Bert Schierbeek

(Original title: 'John Akii Bua from: In- en uitgang - 1974 - De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam)

‘John Akii Bua

Bert Schierbeek
[1918-1996]

(olympic and world champion in 400m hurdles in Munich)

a moment we thought
(of course)
he's going too fast
he'll probably fall
we thought
(it has to be)
he almost fell
(we saw)
but he didn't fall
(we saw)
he got up again
i.e.:
he would have gotten up again
we saw
even though he didn't fall
(we saw)
but:
if he had fallen
(we saw)
he would
but no
he's running faster than ever
(we saw)
it's not possible
but he's running faster than ever
he’s running gold
(we see)
he’s running all out gold
(of course)
of course Akii Bua runs for gold
(the fastest in the world)
like
(like we said before)
Akii Bua runs for gold
like nobody else
with a radiant face Akii Bua runs for gold
(like we said before)

Akii Bua
didn't fall.

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 a retired 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.