On the high dike 

translated by John Irons. Original title 'Op de hoge dijk', by Bart FM Droog

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ON THE HIGH DIKE

On the high dike I stand
in the forsaken sea I gaze
at the eternal gull
the white crests of waves

on the booming of the wind
on the scudding of the clouds
sheep graze away the horizon
my eyes dance in confusion

wander wilder than the sheep
through the loathsome ooze of mud-flats
out towards the islands
with the rising tide of water

trudging through this sucking sludge
– this sickening pus of slimy mud –
the Romans summed it up alright:
this is no place for humans

the water swirls, the water rises
the tide now tugs my legs away
the islands I will never reach
no more the shore that lies behind me

on the booming of the wind
on the scudding of the clouds
sheep graze away the horizon
my eyes danced in confusion.


© Bart FM Droog, 1998
© translation John Irons, 2000
original title: Op de hoge dijk, from Deze dagen, Passage Publishing Company, Groningen, 1998

This poem was especially translated for Droogs poetry tour to Armenia, 2000.



© Bart FM Droog & John Irons 1998/2000/2001. Auteursrecht berust bij de auteur en vertaler op basis van de Auteurswet 1912. Er mag niets uit deze website worden overgenomen, opgeslagen op media ter verspreiding onder derden, gepubliceerd of anderszins verveelvuldigd zonder uitdrukkelijke, voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de auteur en vertaler.