Arnold Jansen op de Haar
A poet in search of his historySample Passages
First name 'I'
you are the man you have
long since become
no longer the youth
from the lean years
of ferriferous smoked meat
but of the hot plate
that quivering quavering
breeds fat folds of flab
in this house that never sees visitors
where there has been no loving
your hand that on paper
turns down the town
against the window the chippings
of fictional characters
you are an accessory to no one
but the first name ‘I’
the breathing of nicotine walls
has appropriated the hours
behind the buckling wallpaper
the tableware that has fallen into disuse
the length and breadth of the night
the knife that makes soft scratches
the whetstone of two feet
under the skin of the carpet
there the fibbing
of truth began
the soft-falling rain
of recollection
onto the crackled land
the one you were accumulates
in young shoots
somewhere the questions and days
grow rampant
as if time accelerates
and when the crops
reach your lips
the nervous doubt
between countries
blossoms as spring
grows hard as winter
the harvesting comes
with the sharpness
of machines
One of the poems from The Refrain of Other People’s Lives for more information and review copies please contact the publisher: bernadette@hollandparkpress.co.uk – +44 (0) 7792611929
First name 'I'
you are the man you have
long since become
no longer the youth
from the lean years
of ferriferous smoked meat
but of the hot plate
that quivering quavering
breeds fat folds of flab
in this house that never sees visitors
where there has been no loving
your hand that on paper
turns down the town
against the window the chippings
of fictional characters
you are an accessory to no one
but the first name ‘I’
the breathing of nicotine walls
has appropriated the hours
behind the buckling wallpaper
the tableware that has fallen into disuse
the length and breadth of the night
the knife that makes soft scratches
the whetstone of two feet
under the skin of the carpet
there the fibbing
of truth began
the soft-falling rain
of recollection
onto the crackled land
the one you were accumulates
in young shoots
somewhere the questions and days
grow rampant
as if time accelerates
and when the crops
reach your lips
the nervous doubt
between countries
blossoms as spring
grows hard as winter
the harvesting comes
with the sharpness
of machines
One of the poems from The Refrain of Other People’s Lives for more information and review copies please contact the publisher: bernadette@hollandparkpress.co.uk – +44 (0) 7792611929
