Carola Eijsenring

Mar 13, 2021 | Front And Center, Poetry | 1 comment

Chopped Down

In a split second the world has turned upside down.
Solid ground is moving. Every step ahead which usually
is taken without a thought, needs now careful considering.

It just happened in a split second. So it seems.

A tiny invisible intruder has taken over the whole world,
and no one has an answer. No one knows a way out. No
one seems to have foreseen what has been going on for
years. We are all taken by surprise, overwhelmed, lost
and in alarm.

However, numerous smart women and men have come
up with clever explanations, thought out solutions, and
hopeful suggestions to get rid of the danger and go back
to our so-called normal life.

But would that be the answer? Would that be the basic
essence of this enormous pandemic panic?

Maybe we need to stand still and listen to shout-outs
of waters, breezing winds, plants, animals, and all that is
living inside, on top of, or high above the earth. They are
speaking to us.

The chopped down tree reveals her days of existence. With
my fingertips I feel the lonely loops of her secret inner life,
follow the fine lines, traces of rough violence.

For years she had been drawing nourishment from earth and
air, to become strong and steady and stiff. From her deepest
roots to her highest twigs, she had fed herself with juices from
drizzle damp and whirling winds.

And so did rivers, fishes, insects, birds, polar bears, seas,
sand dunes, coral reefs, crops, and colorful fruit and flowers.
They are waiting for us to align our collective wisdom, and
finally comprehend the soulful balance between us all.

Lost

Only when it’s over, done, that it won’t ever come
back, never again, forever finished, only then, we
will miss it.

And then, we will be left to grieve about what we
have lost.

 

 

 

 

About Author

Carola Eijsenring

Carola Eijsenring

Carola Eijsenring (The Hague, 1954) is the second of three daughters of her Indo-Dutch parents. She grew up alternately in the Netherlands and Suriname, back and forth. Because of the many wanderings in the family, there were always stories to
share. She started writing her own stories from this storytelling tradition. In the nineties poetry was added.
In 2004 she received the Dunya Poetry Award in Rotterdam. From then onwards she started reciting her poems on different stages. Some of her poems were chosen for poster presentations in different places. From 2012 she created her first music &
poetry show ‘Als het glas scherft’ (‘When the glass shatters’), accompanied by musicians. In 2007 and 2008, she received an Eindhoven Literature Award for her short stories. In 2014 she started her own Burning Bood Group, which has produced the one-hour-shows ‘Burning Blood’ (April 2019), ‘Life Lines’ (Nov 2019) and ‘Essential Calling’ (Oct 2020).

About Translator

  1. Can you please cite the original poem ? Where to find it in Bangla?

1 Comment

  1. Shahrzad

    They are waiting for us to align our collective wisdom, and
    finally comprehend the soulful balance between us all.
    Beautiful
    I am proud of you. ????

    Reply

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