Then the sea presents itself in which we can be salt;
a slow vaporisation dawns,

a life-long vaporisation that won't touch us.
We will stay behind on vast ground,

new pastures, and something as yet unknown will graze:
us down. The grating tongue a worthy last sensation.

But we dissolved into each other before the sea took hold,
and nothing emerged. We didn't dissolve. It failed.

We fearfully turned the otherwise generous offer down.

Translation: 2006, Willem Groenewegen