Recently I discovered the blog of Joanna Goddard, called ‘A Cup of Jo’. She has written about some weekly Fall Challenges. I missed last weeks episode, but this week she had a challenge that appealed to me right away. It was to memorise a poem. It instantly made me think of my mom. When me and my little sister were young, our mom had us memorize some Bible verses. She would write the words down on pieces of paper and then hang them up in the kitchen. Everyday she would remove some pieces. By the end of the week all the words would have disappeared and we would know the verse!
I thought it would be nice to learn a ‘Fall Challenge Poem’ like my mom taught me. So I found this beautiful poem by one of my favorite authors, Toon Tellegen. (Sorry, it’s in Dutch!) It made me laugh out loud when I read it for the first time and then the second time and the third… The poem now hangs in pieces above our couch and I want to have it memorized by next Thursday. So, thank you Joanna for this great challenge!
Click here to read more about the Fall Challenge & A Cup of Jo

Een meisje

Ze wacht.
Nee, denkt ze, ik wacht niet,
ik dans.

Ze danst,
ze danst met lange, ranke passen,
langzaam en aandachtig,
ze houdt haar ogen dicht,

ze danst door deuren en door ramen
en door lange lankmoedige dagen-
hout, glas en uren vallen in splinters rond haar neer-

en telkens als ze niet meer kan
en bijna, bijna valt,
denk ze: Ik?
ik val niet, ik dans.

Toon Tellegen
Uit: Kruis en munt
Querido/Poetry International,
Amsterdam/Rotterdam 2000.