Sophie Hannah, Thomas FrahmDe Britse dichteres en schrijfster Sophie Hannah werd geboren in Manchester op 28 juni 1971. Zie ook alle tags voor Sophie Hannah op dit blog.
Don’t Say I Said
Next time you speak to you-know-who
I’ve got a message for him.
Tell him that I have lost a stone
Since the last time I saw him.
Tell him that I’ve got three new books
Coming out soon, but play it
Cool, make it sound spontaneous.
Don’t say I said to say it.
He might ask if I’ve mentioned him.
Say I have once, in passing.
Memorize everything he says
And, no, it won’t be grassing
When you repeat his words to me ?
Its the only way to play it.
Tell him I’m toned and tanned and fine.
Don’t say I said to say it.
Say that serenity and grace
Have taken root inside me.
My top-note is frivolity
But beneath, dark passions guide me.
Tell him I’m radiant and replete
And add that everyday it
Seems I am harder to resist.
Don’t say I said to say it.
Tell him that all my ancient faults
Have been eradicated.
I do not carp or analyse
As I might have when we dated.
Say I’m not bossy any more
Or, better still, convey it
Subtly, but get the point across.
Don’t say I said to say it.
Rondeau Redoublé
I know the rules and hear myself agree
Not to invest beyond this one night stand.
I know your patter: in, out, like the sea.
The sharp north wind must blow away the sand.
Soon my supply will meet your last demand
And you will have no further use for me.
I will not swim against the tide, to land.
I know the rules. I hear myself agree.
I’ve kept a stash of hours, just two or three
To smuggle off your coast like contraband.
We will both manage (you more easily)
Not to invest beyond this one night stand.
To narrow-minded friends I will expand
On cheap not being the same as duty free.
I’ll say this was exactly what I planned.
I know your pattern: in, out, like the sea.
It’s not as if we were designed to be
Strolling along the beach front, hand in hand.
Things change, of natural necessity.
The sharp north wind must blow away the sand
And every storm to rage, however grand,
Will end in pain and shipwreck and debris
And each time there’s a voice I have to strand
On a bare rock, hardened against its plea;
I know the rules.
Sophie Hannah (Manchester, 28 juni 1971)
De Duitse dichter, schrijver, uitgever en vertaler Thomas Frahm werd geboren op 29 juni 1961 in Homberg. Zie ook alle tags voor Thomas Frahm op dit blog.
Bij het wachten
Met welk een dorst raas je
naar je talloze ontmoetingen,
als was ik een stuk droog brood
bij de aanblik waarvan je meteen om water vraagt –
Met welk een gretigheid ga je uit eten
(als belichaamde ik de hongerdood),
terwijl de straathonden al als wolven keffen
en mijn ziel de seconden meet –
Vertaald door Frans Roumen
Thomas Frahm (Homberg, 29 juni 1961)
Zie voor nog meer schrijvers van de 28e juni ook mijn blog van 28 juni 2020 en eveneens mijn blog van 28 juni 2019 en ook mijn blog van 28 juni 2018 en ook mijn blog van 28 juni 2014 deel 2.
William Cullen Bryant (3 november 1794 – 12 juni 1878)
Lucille Clifton (27 juni 1936 – 13 februari 2010)