Versindaba kompetisie vir vertaalde gedigte (85)
Gisela Ullyatt. Vertaling van Afrikaans in Engels. Vert. deur Tony Ullyatt.
mystic boer
and he comes to pick them up in his baby-blue kombi
(a year later the engine’s buggered)
behind the windows beige-and-brown curtains
possibly nicked from a seventies parsonage
the seats definitely from better days
and his gingerhaired girl (for now)
blows rings with a cheap cigarette
fingers fluttering
eyes ogle her cleavage
girls as they choke on tassenbergs from envy
boys as the froth on their beer brims over
there we sit at the mystic
in the corner at a claustrophobic table
with candle-wax splodges on the plastic tablecloth
I drink my hooch lemon-flavoured
(actually, tassies is every student’s budget tip)
the nineties grunge in doc martins
and kurt cobain wears a cardigan older than the hills
against the wall (in pop art) hang boer generals
with bandoliers and mausers
and they wonder about this mystic boer
***
mystic boer
Gisela Ullyatt
en hy kom laai hulle op in sy seunblou kombi
(’n jaar later die enjin in sy moer)
agter die ruite beige-en-bruin gordyntjies
moontlik geskaai uit ’n seventies pastorie
die sitplekke beslis uit beter dae
en sy gemmerhaarmeisie (vir nou)
blaas kringe met ’n cheap sigaret
vingers fladderend
haar borsgleuf laat die oë omdop
girls omdat hulle verstik in tassenbergs van afguns
boys omdat hul lagers se skuim oorloop
daar sit ons by die mystic
in die hoek by ’n kloustrofobiese tafeltjie
met spulse kerswas op die plastiektafeldoek
ek drink my hooch met suurlemoengeur
(eintlik is tassies elke student se budget tip)
die nineties grunge in doc martins
en kurt cobain dra ’n trui ouer as die berge
teen die muur (in pop art) hang boeregeneraals
met bandeliere en mausers
en wonder oor hierdie mystic boer
Bronverwysing:
Ullyatt, Gisela. 2020. die waarheid oor duiwe. Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis. p. 68.