Photo: Sylvie’s visit to Cambridge, Spring 2022: Downing College, Fellows’ Garden
Sylvie Marie (Belgium)
Be more, like a tree: memories and a poem
I met Richard in Azerbaijan at the end of 2019. That was during a very strange poetry festival in Baku where the most stunning surprises piled up. For a trip to the city of Quba, we ended up next to each other on the bus. How long was the bus ride? Two, three hours? And then back again? We talked continuously. We recognized ourselves in each other. We had the same souls. And we made plans.
We haven't stopped talking since. At first, we e-mailed each other intensely. We did some translations together, I collaborated on the Albero project, we were online at the poetry festival in Medellin in 2020…. It gave us a lot to talk about, and the conversations felt good. Encounters with Richard are very warm and friendly, but that doesn't mean he will want to please you and tell you something he doesn’t mean. “You're going to HATE and DETEST me,” he once wrote to me, when he read a bad translation of a poem of mine. That's the way I like it.
We don’t contact each other very frequently these days. But every time we come in touch with each other, it feels familiar, and I immediately look forward to more words from him. In 2022 I visited Richard in Cambridge and that felt great. Who knows, maybe I'll get there again someday. Until then, we’ll meet up on WhatsApp. I remember once we pointed our hands towards the screen to feel each other's aura. Yes, I actually feel it quickly with Richard. He always seems very close.
For the occasion, I personally translated a cut-up poem of mine. About trees, of course. All advice welcome, Richard!
be more
like a tree
flee with your dark wood
free into the sky
catch the light
stretch out your foliage
whirl around
and trust
the ground
Phote below: Sylvie’s visit to Cambridge, Spring 2022: garden at Downing College
Reference
See also Boom, Sylvie Marie’s Flemish translation of RB’s Tree
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