Our absence was apparent
from the overgrown shrubs
from the grass that needed mowing,
from the birds, the clouds, the gaps.

Not speaking until it becomes
deliberate silence, a disappearance,
something that's difficult
to resent. The overcast sky:

us. Search parties have been called off,
dogs called back, news reports
forgotten. Don't move, that just
makes circles in the pool of silence.

Translation: 2008, Willem Groenewegen