Versindaba kompetisie vir vertaalde gedigte (90)
Hendrik J. Botha. Vertaling van Afrikaans in Engels. Vert. deur Hendrik J. Botha.
Love bar none
For thirty years in Hammanskraal
you taught students to read and write,
wisened them in the arts of science and geography.
They looked up to you: schoolteacher, sage, hero.
But on a Saturday in September
the tables were abruptly turned:
a boy of ten with sun bleached hair,
alabaster–blue eyes with a gaze
of a different kind.
Three days after a hit and run
– a taxi without brakes, sirens and lights –
he grants you a kidney
in the blink of an eye.
***
Oor die kleurgrens
Hendrik Botha
‘n Liefdesgedig
Vir dertig jaar in Hammanskraal,
leer jy kinders lees en skryf,
maak hulle wys in wiskunde en geografie.
Kyk hulle op na jou, die skoolmeester en heer.
Op ‘n Saterdagaand in September
word die bordjies plotseling verhang:
‘n seun van tien, sonblond, oë albasterblou
kyk áf na jou.
Ná ‘n tref–en–trap drie dae terug
–‘n taxi sonder remme,
ligte, sirenes –
skenk hy
sonder om ‘n oog te knip,
vannag vir jou ‘n nier.
Bronverwysing:
Botha, Hendrik J. Atropos. 2015. Kaapstad: Queillerie, NB Uitgewers. p. 34.