- Anne Vanschothorst
ma will be late

At the moment i am working on a video clip for the poem 'Ma will be late' by Antjie Krog. I really like the English version, translated by the poet herself, of Ma sal laat wees. Even more so than the Dutch translation because the English version feels more personal and seems to reveal more information as it were. The Dutch language is close to the South African and has a mystical feeling, which is appealing too.
MA WILL BE LATE
that I come back to you
tired and without memory
that the kitchen door is open I
shuffle in with suitcases hurriedly bought presents
my family’s distressed dreams
slink down the corridor the windows stained
with their abandoned language in the hard
bathroom light I brush my teeth
put a pill on my tongue: Thur
that I walk past where my daughter sleeps
her sheet neatly folded beneath her chin
on the dressing table silkworms rear in gold
that I can pass my sons
frowning like fists against their pillows
their restless undertones bruise the room
that I can rummage a nightie from the drawer
slip into the dark slit behind your back
that the warmth flows across to me
makes me neither poet nor human
in the ambush of breath
I die into woman