Place
Hors-série 2 - septembre 2019 /

Special issue 2 - September 2019

Jan Baetens

MY LIFE TO LIVE

III.

 

NANA’S THROWN OUT OF HER FLAT

SHE LIVES IN THE STREET.

 

 

 

The first few days,

in the evening,

she still goes back to the flat,

 

which watches her;

both

as if prepared for war,

 

A silent-flash.

Noises

are innocent—hopscotch, cat, cobblestone.

 

The gate

opens like

a guillotine. Is

 

combat

engaged? Quietly,

the concierge’s son restrains

 

restrains Nana,

who cries in vain.

Order is tentatively restored.

 

The house does

not want

a woman though young and

 

pretty who

doesn’t pay her

rent. She’ll become a prostitute, then.

 

She’ll only manage

to salvage

some semblance of her coiffure.

                                                                             <    >

 

<=

ARCHIVES