TAKE AND READ Poem by Stefan Hertmans

You can study history,
Riddles, rumours and gossip,
Pages of crazy electronics,
And suddenly you're facing
A beggar in the rain and no longer
Know what we are doing in the world.

A ghost grows warm beside you
And taps you on the shoulder.
Golden shower, Danae in foam,
The glitter of life.

You're being hugged; the sun breaks through.
Someone deciphered a brand new
Cuneiform, kids on their Vespas go
In hot pursuit of Vestal girls.

Everything costs, and everything's null.
Tolle, lege, St. Augustine,
Take this poem and read.

Don't mention us
In your unbearable prayers:
It wasn't for us
Your God suffered.