{"id":2380,"date":"2012-09-18T11:20:53","date_gmt":"2012-09-18T09:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/?page_id=2380"},"modified":"2020-09-28T13:06:10","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T11:06:10","slug":"poems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/?page_id=2380","title":{"rendered":"Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 12 years of the commemoration some of the poems originally written in the Dutch or Belarusian were translated in English. Some poems were written in English. We present them here, beginning with the poem “4 trees for belarus” by Leo Mesman which is also translated in the Belarusian language as \u0427\u0430\u0442\u044b\u0440\u044b \u0434\u0440\u044d\u0432\u044b<\/a>. With this poem started a tradition of writing poems dedicated to the four disappeared men, their families and the commemoration.<\/p>\n

The Dutch originals or translations in Dutch can be found here<\/a> (including downloads).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4 trees for belarus (Leo Mesman 2008)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

4 men<\/p>\n

who stood up against the one
\nthat took the people\u2019s freedom
\nand disappeared<\/span><\/p>\n

4 trees<\/p>\n

planted here as living signs
\nso that we won\u2019t forget a single day
\nto mourn for<\/span><\/p>\n

4 men<\/p>\n

who stood up against the one
\nthat took the people\u2019s freedom
\nand disappeared<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0427\u0430\u0442\u044b\u0440\u044b \u0434\u0440\u044d\u0432\u044b (\u041b\u0435\u043e \u041c\u044d\u0441\u043c\u0430\u043d 2008)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0427\u0430\u0446\u044c\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0430 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u044b\u043d
\n\u043f\u0430\u045e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043bi \u0441\u0443\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0446\u044c \u0430\u0434\u043d\u0430\u0433\u043e
\n\u0448\u0442\u043e \u0430\u0434\u043d\u044f\u045e \u0443 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0443 \u0441\u0432\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0434\u0443.
\n\u0417\u044c\u043di\u043a\u043b\u0438.<\/p>\n

\u0427\u0430\u0442\u044b\u0440\u044b \u0434\u0440\u044d\u0432\u044b,
\n\u044f\u043a \u0441\u044b\u043c\u0431\u0430\u043b\u044c \u0436\u044b\u0432\u044b,
\n\u0443 \u0436\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0431\u043d\u044b\u043c \u0441\u043c\u0443\u0442\u043a\u0443
\n\u043f\u0430\u043di\u043a\u043bi.<\/p>\n

\u0427\u0430\u0446\u044c\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0430 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u044b\u043d
\n\u043f\u0430\u045e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043bi \u0441\u0443\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0446\u044c \u0430\u0434\u043d\u0430\u0433\u043e
\n\u0448\u0442\u043e \u0430\u0434\u043d\u044f\u0443 \u0443 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u0443 \u0441\u0432\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0434\u0443.
\n\u0417\u044c\u043di\u043a\u043b\u0438.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u041f\u0410\u041c\u042f\u0426\u0406 \u0417\u041d\u0406\u041a\u041b\u042b\u0425 (\u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u041d\u0435\u043a\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0432 2012)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u041d\u044f\u043c\u0430 \u0432\u0430\u0441 \u0441\u044f\u0440\u043e\u0434 \u043c\u0451\u0440\u0442\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u0456 \u0436\u044b\u0432\u044b\u0445.
\n\u0412\u044b \u043d\u0430 \u0437\u044f\u043c\u043b\u0456 \u043d\u0435 \u0434\u0430\u0436\u044b\u043b\u0456 \u0434\u0430 \u0441\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0446\u0456.
\n\u041f\u0430\u043a\u0456\u043d\u0443\u045e\u0448\u044b \u0456 \u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0445, \u0456 \u0447\u0443\u0436\u044b\u0445,
\n\u0412\u044b \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430 \u0437\u043d\u0456\u043a\u043b\u0456, \u044f\u043a \u0437\u043d\u0456\u043a\u0430\u0435 \u0432\u0435\u0446\u0435\u0440.<\/p>\n

\u0410 \u043c\u044b \u0436\u044b\u0432\u0451\u043c, \u0431\u043e \u0442\u0440\u044d\u0431\u0430 \u0436\u044b\u0446\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0439,
\n\u041a\u0430\u0431 \u0437\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0443\u043c\u0435\u0446\u044c, \u044f\u043a \u0434\u043e\u0440\u0430\u0433\u0430 \u043c\u044b \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0446\u0456\u043c
\n\u0417\u0430 \u045e\u0441\u0451 \u2013
\n\u0456 \u0448\u0442\u043e \u0437\u0430 \u045e\u0441\u0451 \u043d\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0436\u044d\u0439
\n\u041c\u0430\u0433\u0456\u043b\u044b,
\n\u043d\u0430\u0434 \u044f\u043a\u0456\u043c\u0456 \u043c\u043e\u0436\u043d\u0430 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043a\u0430\u0446\u044c…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In memory of the disappeared (Vladimir Neklyaev 2012)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You are neither among the dead, nor among the living.
\nYou have not reached death on this earth.
\nHaving left your beloved ones as well as strangers behind,
\nYou have disappeared, just like the wind.<\/p>\n

And we go on living, because we have to,
\nTo understand the price we pay
\nFor everything –
\nAnd that is the most precious price of all:
\nThe absence of graves,
\nWhere we can shed our tears.<\/p>\n

Letter from Minsk (Piet van den Boom 2011)<\/strong><\/p>\n

dear boy I wish that you were here
\nbut nobody knows where you are.
\nI miss you every second every day
\nand all I know is that you are not here.<\/p>\n

things here still are as they were:
\nthe winters long and cold and wet
\nand summers humid and unstable,
\nyou understand what I try to say.<\/p>\n

most people stand by and watch.
\nthey have the things they need
\nand do not want to lose it all
\nand think we get what we deserve.<\/p>\n

the neighbors do not seem to miss you.
\nthey never ask about you anymore.
\nthey act as if you never existed
\nand no longer wait for your return.<\/p>\n

friends look at me with compassion
\nand a shadow of impatience.
\nwith their deafening silence
\nthey plead themselves free of guilt.<\/p>\n

sometimes I try to fool myself
\nand think you forgot our phone number
\nor maybe the postman always
\nmisreads the address<\/p>\n

or is it that you departed
\nto a city that does not exist?
\nor are you detained
\nin a prison that does not exist?<\/p>\n

it seems as if you dissolved in the air.
\nso sometimes I take a deep deep
\nbreath and hope that something
\nof you is here with me again.<\/p>\n

Scary-tale (Piet van den Boom 2012)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once upon a time
\nnot far away not in the past
\nthere was a cruel landlord,
\nwho hated the people
\nas much as they feared him.<\/p>\n

He was surrounded
\nby a band of scoundrels
\nwild, merciless and grim,
\nto protect him against those
\nbrave enough to tell the truth.<\/p>\n

In the night and in the day
\nhe sent his blood hounds out
\nto spread fear and terror
\nand hunt down all and every one
\nthat stood him in the way.<\/p>\n

The hounds went into town
\nto drag with vicious violence
\npeople from home and streets
\nand made them disappear
\nwithout a sign or trace.<\/p>\n

The shepherd saw all this
\nwith worry and disgrace
\nand hurried to the landlord
\nto lodge his serious complaint
\nand offered him advice.<\/p>\n

\u2018Dogs are there to guard
\nand to protect’ he said
\nin a soft but firm voice
\n\u2018so bring your angry dogs to me
\nlet me teach them that’.<\/p>\n

The shepherd ordered
\nhis dogs to show the hounds
\novert an patiently
\nhow they did operate
\nto keep order in the herd.<\/p>\n

Smart silently and smooth
\nthey took their positions
\nnever barked or growled
\nthey hardly showed their fangs
\nand yet the sheep obeyed.<\/p>\n

The hounds learned greedily
\nhow to observe their prey
\nto stalk and ambush him silently
\nstrike fast with sharp precision,
\nsnatch, grab and drag him away.<\/p>\n

Back again in their own town
\nthey used these skills to terrorize,
\nand to intimidate the citizens
\nwith a whisper or a phone call
\nand a can of pepper spray.<\/p>\n

The shepherd saw it happen
\nand cried out loud \u2018Oh nay,
\nthis is not as it should be!
\nCall back your hounds and
\nmake them listen to me!’<\/p>\n

The landlord grinned in reply
\n\u2018Now I will teach you some respect’
\nhe took the shepherd’s staff
\nto beat him up with it
\nand had him locked away.<\/p>\n

This is to cheated teachers,
\nshepherds of the world:
\ndon’t lend the leader of the pack
\nyour cloak and staff and wit:
\nthere only comes mischief from it<\/p>\n

Oaks in September (Arjen van Halem 2012)<\/strong><\/p>\n

oaks in September
\nsun, strong and still, shadow tears.
\nfour starlings watching<\/p>\n

Torch (Catharina Boer 2013)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grey silence obviously is
\nthe law for anyone who remains
\nfearfully captured behind walls
\nin the shadow of cruel dictatorships.<\/p>\n

Who protests gets caught
\nand nothing is heard from him again
\nor from the man who broke him,
\nif his body is ever found at all.<\/p>\n

The free voice only breaks the law
\nwith the light that writers shine
\non this injustice like a torch to be
\nhanded over against torture and murder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 12 years of the commemoration some of the poems originally written in the Dutch or Belarusian were translated in English. Some poems were written in English. We present them here, beginning with the poem “4 trees for belarus” by Leo Mesman which is also translated in the Belarusian language as \u0427\u0430\u0442\u044b\u0440\u044b \u0434\u0440\u044d\u0432\u044b. With … Lees verder “Poems”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2380","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2380"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3235,"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2380\/revisions\/3235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vierbomen.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}