Wakker Lê / Laying Awake (Afrikaans)
Soos ekke deur dié nagstuk dryf
Lig spoel onkeerbaar in die skadus weg
Dadelik vervang deur die witte straatlampskuif
Dié uur is die uur van wakker droom
Drie-uur in die duisternis se skuiling
Dié maan is die droom se oog
Weggebêre in dié gryse wolkekring
Die treinman roep my soos ‘n donderbalk
Verlore lyf, die wind se naam in blare
Wat sonder kennis sy vorm aan my kondig
Die treinman wat weergalm deur die skare
Naamloos, lyfloos, volmaak in ‘n vreemdeling se brein
Wat afklim by hul stasie
Dankloos, vergete
Die treinman stuur die nasie
Translation:
Light sinks into the baptised street
As I’m floating through this night-time scene
Light spills off into the shadow world
Replenished by the streetlamp’s sheen
This hour’s the hour of wakeful dreams
Three o’clock in the shelter of the dark
This moon’s the eye this dream would use
Hidden in this dun cloud-arc
The train man calls me like a thunderclap
Disembodied, the wind’s name in hapless leaves
Declaring his own form with no intent
Through the crowd the train man heaves
Nameless, bodiless, perfected in a stranger’s mind
Disembarking at their station
Thankless, forgotten
The train man steers the nation