Jan Theuninck

(1954-    )

Though born after World War II in 1954, Jan Theuninck finds himself writing about the war and its aftermath.  A poet and minimalist painter with a strong interest in social and political issues, Theuninck writes under his own name as well as the pen-name, ORC, a name he uses in honor of Raoul Wallenberg.  Although Dutch is his mother tongue, he often writes in French.  His work frequently appears in poetry journals and magazines internationally.

Shoah

wandering jew, damned jew

and no words on them are forbidden

suspected of crimes and treason

they have been put in jail

they have been tortured and murdered

in the name of an insane idea

and now - more than ever -

who is next, please?

Shoa

on les a torturés et tués

au nom d’une infâme idée

et maintenant plus que jamais

a qui le tour s’il vous plaît ?

Yperiet

‘s avonds laat

vult een mist

Jde vallei

zonder te beseffen

verstikt hij ons

als een duistere macht

op de velden

liggen onze lijken

en onder het gras

een bruine aarde.

Yperite

late at night

a mist

fills the valley.

without knowing

it suffocates

like a dark power.

on the fields

our dead bodies

and under the grass

a brown soil

Zuydcote 

the sun shines

on the dune

the bunkers hide 

the undesirable

all of them lose 

their innocence

lost blood 

on the beach

the sea...

guilty!