Wednesday 2 November 2011

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

No comments: