A Moment Of Charm Poem by Jan Baeke

See how I talk to you between two flashes.
Flesh under the dresses
downy bumble bees buzzing past.
For our bodies this summer is much too hot.

Of course the moon, madam
and all those other phenomena
a silhouette in which one can imagine
hands and thighs. Is it your daughter? I love her.

I'm conscious of this particular time.
We can expect difficult days with the family.
The shadows cast on you and yours are not too bad
although so many people are struggling in these rainy days

in the middle of summer
but how are health and business matters?
It would be good to greet the most attractive among you.
I like to do that when I get the opportunity.

I've never been able to accept the idea
that our thinking is a wholly abstract affair.
Touching you is the convincing proof
that my imagination takes a real shape.

Translation: 2015, Judith Wilkinson