Toon Tellegen
Poems (iii) "What do you do with love?"- heterosexual relationships
You must, they said, face the truth.
Now! Immediately!
I faced the truth.
When it grew dark they whispered:
Now you may face something else—
if you like.
It was quiet
and I faced love
and thoughtlessness with its giant wings
and the simplicity of the moonlight on my wall.
Now the truth again, they said. Now!
Now! Immediately!
I faced the truth.
When it grew dark they whispered:
Now you may face something else—
if you like.
It was quiet
and I faced love
and thoughtlessness with its giant wings
and the simplicity of the moonlight on my wall.
Now the truth again, they said. Now!
Toon Tellegen, born in 1941, is one of Holland’s best-known and most prolific poets and has received numerous literary awards. The poems translated here are from Over liefde en over niets anders (“About love and about nothing else”) and
Alleen liefde (“Just love”), published by Querido, Amsterdam, in 1997 and 2002 respectively.
Alleen liefde (“Just love”), published by Querido, Amsterdam, in 1997 and 2002 respectively.
Translated by Judith Wilkinson
Page(s) 42
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