Unstable Equilibrium. The Versatility of J. Bernlef (an extract from ‘Boy' and four poems, in the original Dutch with English translations)

There is always something informal and casual about the work of the Dutch writer J. Bernlef (1937-). From his earliest work onwards, he has searched for things that have not yet been recorded, catalogued or given significance. He searches for what is nameless in remote or written-off worlds – not, and that is decisive, to give it an indelible name before it is too late (and in so doing make a bid for eternal fame as the namer, creator or discoverer), but quite simply to observe it, without a plan or aim, and confirm its existence