Lying Still She Is – Carola Eijsenring

Feb 20, 2021 | Colloquy | 5 comments

The Burning Blood group presents poem ‘Lying still she is’ in English and Dutch.  The Brazilian dancer is Vitoria Aquino. The Indo didgeridoo player is Erik Deckert. The video is created by the Turkish filmmaker Deniz Tuzcuoglu. The poem is recited by the poet, Carola Eijsenring.

 

The original poem in Dutch 

Lying Still  She is

Lying down, she is, in silence.
Full of thoughts.
Gently her arms next to her body.

Embraced by water plants, she ponders over her dreams.
Behind closed eyes she sees images, she doesn’t want to look at.

Unable to ease her mind, she lingers and listens.

There is weeping in her womb. Sobs she doesn’t want to hear.
And she can’t figure out how to get rid of her silent tears.

They are streaming over her cheeks in the rhythm of the
rolling river under her tight back.

She is stretched out peacefully, but in her body, she is struggling
without a break.

In the flow of the flood, she allows herself to let go.
Anchored by stems of tough leaves, she is breathing the damp of
the dark river, whispering olden tales, floating between the hanging
roots of bushy plants on the shore.

Soft flushing.

One movement and she would drop down, right to the bottom.

Still, she lies, without a move.
Her arms next to her body.
Thinking dreams.
Listening to soundless tears.
Sharing the wary world of
long past souls around her.

About Author

Carola Eijsenring

Carola Eijsenring

Carola Eijsenring (1954) grew up in The Netherlands and Suriname in a Eurasian
family, moving around the world for generations. Following their Eurasian storytelling
tradition, she started writing stories, later supplemented with poetry.
In 2004 she received the Poetry International Award in Rotterdam, and in 2007 and
2008 the Eindhoven Literature Award. In 2014 she started her Burning Blood Group
with music and poetry around (re)connecting with her roots from over the world.
Burning Blood is now a group of 15 international musicians, artists, designers and
others, co-creating shows as: ‘Burning Blood’ (2019), ‘Life Lines’ (2019) and
‘Essential Calling’ (2020).

About Translator

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

5 Comments

  1. Jishnu Sen

    Beautifully done. The poem is beautiful ( I can connect with some my mother tongue ( Bengali) poems) and of course the recitation and the entire video production is equally good.

    Reply
    • Carola Eijsenring

      Thank you so much for your warm and supportive comment, dear Jishnu. I am very touched by your reference to Bengali poems. Many thx!! Carola

      Reply
  2. Shahrzad

    Beautiful combination. The poem is beautiful, the dance, the music all beautiful! The video, the colors, the shapes… Basically everything! Transcendent feelings, flying spirit in the body. Just magnificent. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Carola Eijsenring

      Thank you very much, dear Shahrzad, for your wonderful comment and heartfelt words. Am deeply thrilled by them. Many thx!! Carola

      Reply
  3. David Easter

    Well done!

    Reply

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