Another poem by the Dutch writer Martin Reints

Lawnmower

Thoughts go on their way

but not their own way

like a lawnmover goes ahead of you

if you walk behind it

now that you can’t sleep

you wait:

till what’s happening in your head takes its own flight

won’t you fall asleep

or can’t you fall asleep

or: can’t you let yourself fall asleep

which is it

you let your feet become heavy,

your legs, your entire body

till it’s so heavy it seems to sink through the bed you’re lying in

or lying on

which is it, nocturnal lawnmower

which, till your body’s no longer there

or till it starts to grow light.

To see more translations of Reints, go to the Poetry International Web here