A poem from the cycle by the Dutch poet C.O. Jellema, based on the novella 'Lenz' by Georg Büchner

‘DEN 20. JÄNNER GING LENZ DURCHS GEBIRG’

6.

To be a bird in thought no dared intention,

while in the wood he held his left arm tight

when it would start to flap. His only right

As guest, his duty: proffering attention.

He proffered. Was the profferer. Surprised

at what he gave: his soul. In shady places

it lay like snow, maid, mother, outlined traces

of who had hosted it – a guest likewise.

If it soon melts, he thought, plants will start growing,

like me, the blossom, pollination, pledges

of fruit that with a crack will open wide.

He saw himself then as the inner edges

of many silences – not beyond knowing.

The birds stayed on the outside in the sky.