Monday 22 November 2021

Marie Brummelhuis: 'Natuurlijk ben je niet dood'

 *

 

Of course you’re not dead

 

otherwise your beard hairs

wouldn’t be sticking to the razor

that’s lying next to the soap dish

on the washbasin and otherwise

the woollen pullovers lying

in an untidy heap

on your side of the wardrobe

certainly wouldn’t smell of you

 

besides your voice is right there

on our ansaphone

I’ve probably listened to it eleven times this morning

and all eleven times you’ve promised to call back anyone

who says something after the tone as soon as possible

and the reason you haven’t done so in my case

is of course because I didn’t record anything

or perhaps you were busy with something else

I really mustn’t be so impatient

 

what’s more your passport with what is quite obviously

your photo is lying where our important papers 

always lie, in the top kitchen drawer

you know that as well as I do

only yesterday I looked there and oh yes

 

in that photo you’re surreptitiously wearing your quirky smile

something which according to the local authority officials

you’re apparently not allowed to

but fortunately you couldn’t care less about that

 

so it we wanted to

we could today still

be able to pack our suitcases

to go off travelling together.

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