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literature

Amina Belȏrf: The Night Clock

By Amina Belȏrf, translated by Paul Vincent
29 June 2022 1 min. reading time Friday Verses

This week’s Friday Verses are written by Amina Belȏrf. We translated De nachtklok. This poem first appeared in Dutch in Het Liegend Konijn, a magazine for contemporary Dutch-language poetry.

Amina Belȏrf (Antwerp, b. 1990) performs and writes poetry and prose. She is a social worker and a columnist. Her texts have appeared, for example, in the Poëziekrant, DW B magazine and Het Liegend Konijn. Her debut collection was Zonder het licht te breken (Without Breaking the Light, Epo, 2020).

The Night Clock

Unharmed in quarantine
surrounded by splinters
in evening rush hour
weighed unwillingly
light shines

on what must not be seen
the masked mass breaks
the contraflow, carrying capacity
lasts days, no longer months

extinguish images of doom
close the generation gap
gratitude in living
for what today is not yet
tomorrow

stray off the path
sing to meet the black
dance beyond the dark
following the night clock
switch the daylight back on.

(Dutch version below the photo)

FB IMG 1632437904093 Amina Belȏrf

De nachtklok

Heelhuids in quarantaine
omringd door scherven in
avondspits, willoos gewogen
schijnt het licht

op wat niet gezien mag zijn.
De gemaskerde massa breekt
de tegenstroom, draagkracht
duurt dagen, geen maanden meer.

Doof doembeelden uit
dicht de generatiekloof
dankbaarheid bij leven
voor wat vandaag morgen
nog niet is.

Wijk van het pad af
zing het zwart tegemoet
dans verder dan het duister
schakel na de nachtklok
het daglicht weer aan.

FB IMG 1632437904093

Amina Belȏrf

social worker, performer, columnist and writer of poetry and prose

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