Versindaba kompetisie vir vertaalde gedigte (45)
Ellen Bryant Voigt. Vertaling van Engels in Afrikaans. Vert. deur Tom Dreyer.
Mormeldier
on-anders as otters waaroor ons vrek rinkinkers
roeiend op hul rug soos stokkiesdraaiers met kos-
pakkies in waspapier dieselfde vlambruin pels met stroke
rooi en grys ofskoon dié marmot ‘n veer voel vir swemgate
en sy noenmaal in die aarde wortel sy bene is verpot
sy pote ‘n vet man se koddige skoentjies hy’s g’n
gerinkink nie hy’s ‘n skarreling van vetlaag op laag sy vel
glim asof dit nat is dit gloei soos sabel of kastaiing
sy kop en bek donkerder laer af in die gras
‘n driehoekige gevreet soos ‘n varksnoet fret nog iets
wat nie ‘n snoet is nie maak name dan nie saak nie ek hou
van varke wat slim is en sindelik en met hul snoete
hul uitskot na die hok se rand toe wroet
maar varke het harige velle eerder as pels sý pels
skitter en rimpel hy spaar altyd die moederplant sy
tande is soos ‘n skaap s’n stomp en hoekig deins hy terug
as jy hom jag of byt hy soos ‘n sog met kleintjies word hy
ooit aangeval hy lyk vir my oneetbaar hy deel sy weiveld
met mol vleirot en onversadigbare kraai iemand het al
díé name uitgedink hulle noem hom ook “afskeep Algonquin”
maar ja hy tonnel onder die skuur waar ‘n boer op sy dag
brandhout gedroog het en vlug hierheen vir jou hoes of lag
of vir grassnyer windvlaag of deinende rivier hy lig sy kop
soos Gandhi s’n met ‘n klein sywaartse knak of staan pen-
orent soos ‘n prêriehond of sirkusbrak maar brakke waggel nie
soos Mao met ‘n halfwas stertjie nie hy lyk aseksueel
soos Gandhi of Jesus en as Jesus ooit sou terugkom
sou hy vegetaries wees en wat van commie mof of freako
boorlinge van Vermont verwens die stad se greyhounds
en sien hulself as mormeldiere macho harig ongekam en reg
om voor die voet ‘n vetsak te skiet skaam mak marmot stralend
in ‘n vanghok soos ‘n varksnoet fret skoner as ‘n skaap sy
pels sag soos ‘n meisie s’n miskien is hy eerder ‘n sy
dit maak saak wat jy ons noem woorde vorm die gedagte
en bewaar jou siel as jy rot sou sê en alles ruïneer
***
Groundhog
Ellen Bryant Voigt
not unlike otters which we love frolicking
floating on their backs like truant boys unwrapping lunch
same sleek brown pelt some overtones of gray and rust
though groundhogs have no swimming hole and lunch
is rooted in the ground beneath short legs small feet
like a fat man’s odd diminutive loafers not
frolicking but scurrying layers of fat his coat
gleams as though wet shines chestnut sable darker
head and muzzle lower into the grass
a dark triangular face like the hog-nosed skunk another delicate
nose and not a snout doesn’t it matter what they’re called I like swine
which are smart and prefer to be clean using their snouts
to push their excrement to the side of the pen
but they have hairy skin not fur his fur
shimmers and ripples he never uproots the mother plant his teeth
I think are blunt squared off like a sheep’s if cornered does he
cower like sheep or bite like a sow with a litter is he ever
attacked he looks to me inedible he shares his acreage
with moles voles ravenous crows someone
thought up the names his other name is botched Algonquin
but yes he burrows beneath the barn where once a farmer
dried cordwood he scuttles there at speech cough laugh
at lawnmower swollen brook high wind he lifts his head
as Gandhi did small tilt to the side or stands erect
like a prairie dog or a circus dog but dogs don’t waddle like Mao
with a tiny tail he seems asexual like Gandhi like Jesus if Jesus
came back would he be vegetarian also pinko freako homo
in Vermont natives scornful of greyhounds from the city
self-appoint themselves woodchucks unkempt hairy macho
who would shoot on sight an actual fatso shy mild marmot radiant
as the hog-nosed skunk in the squirrel trap both cleaner than sheep
fur fluffy like a girl’s maybe he is a she it matters
what we’re called words shape the thought don’t say
rodent and ruin everything
Bronverwysing:
Voigt, Ellen Bryant. 2013. Headwaters. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p 34
ISBN: 0393350002