ik ben nog niet af
mijn zwakke kleuren
zijn nog onomlijnd
nog niet verfijnd
en vaak ook raakte
ik gebroken als
versnipperd licht
op barstend glas
wie schept iets moois
uit wat ik ben en was
Arie van Nieuwkerk
maandag 27 april 2015
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2 opmerkingen:
I am not finished yet
my weak colors
are still without contours
not yet refined
and often I was also broken
asunder the way
light splinters
on fractured glass
who creates something beautiful
out of what I am and was
en ole vielä valmis
heikot värini
ovat vielä vailla ääriviivoja
vielä jalostamatta
ja usein myös menin
rikki niin kuin
valo hajoaa
säröisessä lasissa
kuka luo jotain kaunista
siitä mitä olen ja olin
The latter translation is in Finnish (if someone didn’t recognize). I don’t know if I understood the poem correctly (there’s a little language barrier here), but if I did, I like it. The essential in us is not glass but light (cf. Matt 6:23). We don’t go asunder like glass. We go asunder like light. But light never really goes asunder. Light splinters when it goes through or reflects from fractured glass but it’s not the light that is broken but the glass. Fractured glass is ugly, but light in splinters is more beautiful than light intact. The glass is the creation. The fractures are sin. “It behoved that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” (Julian of Norwich) Everything is a way for God to create “iets moois uit wat ik ben en was”.
I read from your Twitter page that the poem is inscribed on a church wall somewhere, which, by the way, is the reason I thought it should be interpreted as a religious poem. I googled up the author and was surprised to find out that he is still not only alive but also a somewhat young man. How on earth did he have his poem inscribed on a church wall? I would have thought you would have to be dead for at least a hundred years before anyone would even consider utilizing your poems in such a way. Well, it depends.
Groet,
Risto
Hi Risto,
It's a great poem, isn't it? And I think your interpretation of it is quite apt.
Best regards,
Emanuel
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