MY Poems
‘Jonah, Palma Christi’
Accompanying the painting of Henk van Loenen
I.
That first day high above the city
Jonah rests sweating
Under his erected shelter
Now the sky has been uncovered
The word descends
Gold and scarlet
Under the leaf of the tree
He looks into the large space
Searching for omens
Filled with splendour
Jonah lifts his head
A heart beating in soul-agonising darkness
A wishing well, deeper than his grief
The destruction failing to appear
In the distance above the city
Three crows ascend, black flapping
The lamentation in Nineveh
Is mere mumbling to Jonah
They are a cry to God
He is concerned with their fate
II.
The worm, a miracle
Within the fire of a dream
Withdrew from him his leafy cover
You can burn Jonah
Burn with desire, thirst to
Receive my love and beatitude
I searched for you here in the paint
I searched for you in the sky of my verse
Where does this miracle exist
What’s in this line?
Do you come home to yourself?
In the golden gleam of evaporating leaf
Light becomes air filled with water
Through the air the sun takes your shadow
Let us live from the miracle
Jonah, you only need to open your eyes
III.
Heart you feel such sorrow
Now the tree only stays for a day
Under your glowing wrath
Jonah is full of wonder
And those in Nineveh are special
Even a dog praises God’s goodness
IV.
Here darkens desire
Here bustles luminous life
You, now draped with mercy,
Remain surrounded by this golden light
Again it shall be long
Before the warp thread
And weft thread are untangled
Counted and converted into days
V.
Dancing on the water
Your loneliness rises
Bustling in the depth
Darkening
Joost de Jonge 2014
(translated from Dutch to English by Eva van Loenen & edited by Dr. Emily Bilman)
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