The Low Countries. Jaargang 18

[p. 12]

Whatever survives of the innermost me
All Poems by Elisabeth Eybers

[Engels]

Whatever survives of the innermost me
contains you too, unfailingly,
South Africa. But the traditional lore
seems less persuasive than before
they chose to bisect your proper name

by calling you Africa, where, on the whole,
disaster plays an alarming role
quite foreign to what I recollect
and cherish as a sancrosanct debt.

South Africa, while you disappear
I try to keep your status clear
by claiming that you're exempt from blame.

[Nederlands]

Wat ook al in my binnenste agterbly,
Suid-Afrika, jý hoort feilloos daarby.
Om die inherente geheuetaak
nog onaanvaarbaarder te maak
noem hulle jou hier somaar Afrika.

Onreg en honger en opstand speel
'n omvattende rol in die groot geheel
en het niks, maar hoegenaamd niks te maak
met die herinneringe wat my bewaak

en wat ek bewaak. Terwyl jy verdwyn,
Suid-Afrika, hoed ek die heilige skyn
en kom jou nooit ofte nimmer te na.

[p. 13]

[Engels]

My hands and feet are all that came along,
the rest somehow got scuppered on the way:
the woozy heart, the whole foolhardy throng
of ductless glands raring to go astray.

Comparing what has disappeared with what
surrounds me here, I readily embrace
brand-new impressions, sound and light, the lot:
sense-organs occupying a rightful place.

My breast and belly also indicate
that something else existed previously.
Who knew that emptiness creates such weight
or what a burden non-constraint can be?

[Nederlands]

Niks as my hande en voete het ek hier,
die res het met die oortog soek geraak:
die katswink hart, die prikkelbare klier,
wat moet mens bowendien met hulle maak?

Om wat verlore is te vergelyk
met die omringende, om klank en lig
te gryp sonder te luister of te kyk
het ek tog nog sintuie aan my gesig.

Ook aan my bors en buikruimte gewaar
ek dat daar vroeër wel iets anders was.
Wie het ge weet dat leegte ooit so swaar
sou word en onbelemmerdheid so 'n las?