Saturday, 21 October 2023

Gerrit Komrij: 'Der schoolverlater'

 


The school-leaver 

 

A mountain of rice pud I waded through,

Set reading and a host of bookish facts,

Where every urge for freedom was taboo

Where nothing struck though all fell on my back.

 

Until I landed in an open field,

Far from that rule-bound, cold oppressive place;

A peacock wisdom to me there revealed

And knowledge from the trees I picked apace.

 

For uselessness my time was all my own 

And I struck gold when all I sought was shale.

As university that world was known –

 

A world that one can hear folk claim instead

To wolves and speed hogs now is up for sale –

As if you could spread banknotes on your bread.

 

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