Of all rhythms he found day and night
the most beautiful. One, two, and thank God
no three. That only came later, when
everything was over, a dark number
disguised as a nought. How does a work of art
arise? When does a motet begin,
a poem, a light that seems to have no origin?
Who thinks of a first line before thinking?
From a morass of reflections, a miry
struggle between the past and an invented present,
a single visible moment arises
in which time no longer measures
the sinking.
Cees Nooteboom (born 1933) The Netherlands
Translated by David Colmer
Source: Plume
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