Gerry van der Linden
(Pays-Bas/Nederland)
Tomorrow the sea will fall backwards
ebb will drink flow
without warning
the sky will let rip
we’ll be left behind in the sand
threadbare angels
dissident angels
without all-day passes
tomorrow the wind will turn
without mercy
driftwood will capsize
nothing amazing ahead
we’ll be left behind in the sand
with peeled bodies
tainted thighs
dredged mouths
Martha Rudzka waking up
regarding household
a chair with three legs
a table without a top
a paper without stories
pamphlets bread sausage
presidential candidate pyjamas
cut sheets
measly bread
her clothes
vetted breasts
early morning light
a man without shoes
unsmoothed hair
a smile appearing honest
soft pats on her thigh
her empty case
empty household
empty clothes
Fatima S. has disbanded her body
familial rules
in honour of sun public days
nothing worth doing
in personal pitch black
no name to support her
voice nor child the latter
on her heels unrest on off
jumps up from sleep
head heart
ageless house as serving hatch
ageless dismissed mouth
screaming costs money energy woman
veil to lie beside
Honey-mouth jumps out of bed
there lies the town
a stone recently thrown
such a pleasant day
honey-mouth Dutch tulip
with her yellow silk headscarf
camel boys watch out!
cans of Arabian coffee
thud in the sun
honey-mouth closes her eyes
her feet careful
relieved the front door swings
bong! the church bell strikes
good morning honey-mouth
her stomach ramadans
her head bumps heaven
not rose-coloured
clouded faces in fact
shut up honey-mouth!
nice lies tap fire
what to call truth?
how does she feel? warm cold?
why doesn’t she speak?
more she wants to taste
question
how much truth does
a veiled kiss eat?
A man sweeps the pavement
why his wife left him
he does not know
sweeping the pavement
makes him happy
a child won’t go to school
stops at his feet crying
the man sweeps it away
a cool morning breeze blows down the street
A woman fits a dress
why her husband left she does not know
fitting the dress cheers her up
a man passes the shop
sees her whirling in the window
the woman takes off the dress
here there beyond
dresses walk containing women
that don’t fit
Across the street
a tree is being cut down
branches lie on the quayside
the tree falls with a thud
light falls on the stones
four men in orange overalls
fasten steel cables around its bark
it is hoisted
the tree passes the window
the room disappears in its shadow
the men yell
the tree passes through the sky
which is blue as a doll’s eye
A woman in torn clothing
cries heart-wrenchingly
by the store’s revolving door
a married couple comes to a halt
muslim woman sprains her ankle
bags rush past the shopping route
the woman points her sobbed-on claw
at the striped sleeve of a man
listen up where did you get that child?
The city a hanky
down at heel filthy
pigeons scoff
trees flee
trams catch loudly
on the city’s grooves
in the supermarket the whores
on half-mangled step-ins
morning men
remainder the morning
kids bounce off
the city a hanky
not picked up
the city
all poems translated by Willem Groenewegen, 2007
Poems from Glazen Jas (Coat of Glass; 2007)
First 9 from cycle ‘Rumoer’ (Bustle) pp. 39 – 48
____________________________________________
Gerry van der Linden‘s first poetrybook The Note was published in 1978. The critics wrote: young, fresh poetry with a vunerable, philosophical touch. Overwhelmed by the attention she left for the USA and started living and working in San Francisco for four years. She translated and read her poetry with Alan Ginsberg and others. Her second poetrybook came out twelve years later in 1990; Fall on the edge and contains intriging poetry of life and death in a sharp, passionate and playfull language. She is also a prose writer. In 1992 she wrote her first novella Envelop and in 1995 the novel Wind, which startled the critics by its unusual structure, different style’s of writing and poetry all in the same book. Nowadays she’s working on new poetry and short stories, titel Agfa Click.
Publications: 8 poetrybooks, 3 novels
1978 poetry: The Note, 1990 poetry Fall on the edge, 1992 novella: Envelop,
1993 poetry: At my hand of feathers, 1995 novel: Wind, 1997 poetry: Sandglass, 1999 poetry tale/with cd: The girl Lila and the Signs of Time, 2000 novel: Dagger, 2001 poetry: Way out, 2004 poetry: Good people, 2007 poetry: Coast of glass.
Gerry van der Linden was for three years a member of the board of the Dutch PEN (international organization of Poets, Essaysists, Novelists), teaches Poetry and Literature at the University of Amsterdam and is personal coach for many upcoming writers. She also works as a visual artist. Her work is translated into English, German, French, Turkish, Bulgarian and Indonesian. In and out of Holland she is a respected, well-known poet and writer. Website www.gerryvanderlinden.nl