De Gids. Jaargang 123

[p. 78]

Elisabeth Eybers

the withness of the body - Whitehead

Dit, vae balling, word gelei
langs doodloopgangetjies verby
deur Dat, voorbarig en sekuur,
wat weet waarop om af te stuur.

Dit, strompelend agter Dat aan, staar,
aap alles na wat Dat gebaar:
uit één diskrete sleutelgat
syg die gesteun van Dit en Dat,

tot, deur die skerp roes afgeskei,
Dit wéér Dit word en Dat Dat bly.

the withness of the body - Whitehead

This, vague outcast, no longer gropes
down blind back-lanes but learns the ropes
from That, presumptuous, accurate,
who always steers his course dead straight.

This, stumbling in That's footprints, stares
and mimics all the things That dares:
eavesdroppers count, inclining at
one key, the moans of This and That,

till, sorted out by acid bliss,
That still stays That and This is This.