Dublin revisited by Ben Ros

Ben Ros (1952-1994) in Connemara - 1992

photo © Johannes van den Bos  

Dublin revisited

Introibo ad altare Dei

and bewildered by the same lass

who showed Stephen her thighs

at the bay of the snotty green sea.

And later that day a pint in McDaid's

under the boldly painted eye

of Brendan Behan.

Drink in, absorb; it's still possible now.

‘A pint of plain is your only man’,

as Flann O' correctly once wrote.

Because when soon the days

are shining too clear

in the low, the low countries

and the wind blows too, but not bleak,

then by emptying the bottle

my whole goddamed trunk will be filled

with yearning for that far-away country

of littres and literature-

Ó Eire, land so dear

of liquor and literature!


Original title: Dublin revisited. Published in: Literair tijdschrift 'Van Overheidswege' - 1e jaargang nr 4 voorjaar 1983 Rotterdam

The eccentric by Rein van de Wetering

Rein van de Wetering
[1937-2023]

Original title: 'de zonderling'

From the collection: 'Achter de hand', 1978

Uitgeverij Corrie Zelen, Maasbree

The eccentric

his garden is overgrown with weeds

undermined by moles

instead of flowers

there are dried-up thistles

in his room, from the ceiling

cobwebs hang down

and the dampness from the walls

affects his spine

he experiences sympathy from the children

the parents shake their heads

Fairly peaceful at sea by L. Th. Lehmann

 

Fairly peaceful at sea                                                                

L.Th. Lehmann [1920-2012]

Blood-salty sea, which they call Mother,

mother without arms to catch,

without legs to chase,

without a throat to scream,

without hands to grab us,

without teeth to crush us.

The sea does nothing like mothers do,

but those waves are mouths too

and certainly she can swallow us up,

but often enough she can't be bothered.

(Original title: 'Redelijke zeevrede' - from: 'Gedichten 1939-1998', 2000 - Uitgeverij De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam)

To Dublin by K. Schippers

                                                                                                                                                                                         

To Dublin                                                                             

K. Schippers (Gerard Stigter)
1936 - 2021

for Philip Mechanicus

I flew once from Amsterdam to Dublin.

Later I wrote:

Above the North Sea and the English coast

I looked down

and I saw the map from the Bos Atlas:

the word North Sea

printed a little skewed in the water

and the names of the coastal cities

also in the sea

because on the land

there was no room anymore.

If I go again

then I might write:

Above the North Sea and the English coast

looking down,

saw the sea and the English coast.

Or:

The sky was like the colour of my socks,

but I couldn't see

whether it was ebb or flow.

Reality does not suffer

among those observations.

They are only

different points of view.

(Original title: 'Naar Dublin' - from: Poëzie is een daad van bevestiging - Noord- en Zuidnederlandse poëzie van 1945 tot heden - gebundeld en ingeleid door C. Buddingh' en Eddy van Vliet - 1984 - Uitgeverij Manteau, Amsterdam.

Duck-billed platypus by L. Th. Lehmann

L. Th. Lehmann [1920-2012]
photo: Leo van Velzen 

 

Duck-billed platypus

 

I proposed once Peg, from Geelong,

and was refused,

for a year I still got real tears in my eyes

when I heard 'Waltzing Mathilda'

because I didn't know any other Australian song.

Almost twenty years later

I met a typically

re-emigrated Dutch couple.

Their little son still had a platypus

made of nylon wool, called the plat pussy,

with in the belly a music box

that played 'Waltzing Mathilda'.

(Original title: 'Duck-billed platypus' - from: 'Gedichten 1939-1998', 2000 - Uitgeverij De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam)

A meeting about poetry

Martin Mooij (left) and C. Buddingh', about 1980, in the office of Poetry International 
at The Doelen in Rotterdam
[copyright photo Pieter Vandermeer]