Why Brownlee left

Why Brownlee left

 why Brownlee left
is still today
for cityfolk
a mystery
for if a man
should have been happy
it would be him:
all those pictures in
Country Life or Outdoor
he lived them!
every day Mother Nature’s Son!
didn’t he love his horses?
didn’t his milkers have a name?

why Brownlee left
even now
his neighbours don’t want to know:
he who steps aside
falls into silence
weather and time
rules every countryman:
seeding proceeds earning
and on sunday too
the udders fill

(maybe he’s on an island now
pencil in fist
waiting
for a Derek Hill)

Translation: Bartle Laverman/John Brown

Why Brownlee left

 wêrom ‘t B. weiwaard
is oant hjoed
foar stedslju
noch altyd in mystearje
want as der ien lokkich wêze koe
moast hij it dochs wêze:
al dy glêde plaatsjes yn
Landleven of Buiten
hij libbe se!
alle dagen Mother Nature’s Son !
hold er net fan syn hynders?
hie syn molkfee net in namme?

wêrom ‘t B. weiwaard
wol oant hjoed
it doarp gjin weet fan ha:
wa’t oer it string stapt
falt yn swijen
de twang fan waar en tiid
stoert elk dy’t ta it lânfolk heart:
siedzjen komt foar rispjen
en ek op snein
rinne de jaren fol

(faaks wennet er yn in petgat no
potlead yn ‘e knûst
wachtsjend
op in Thom Mercuur)

© Bartle Laverman
Dêr't de ko him deljout/Where the cow lies down (Koperative Utjouwerij, 2006)