Poem by the Dutch writer Tjitske Jansen

Adam and Eve

He didn’t want a beach-beach,

he wanted a primeval beach.

He wanted mud

that merged into water.

He wanted a meadow

and after that the mud

and after that the water.

He wanted the first sea.

That was to be found in Groningen.

He was sure of that.

We drove there.

Enough meadows in Groningen,

enough mud and water.

But no sea

of the kind we were looking for:

mud that merged into water

where at low tide

he could make a sculpture

of a woman

and then wait

for high tide.