Hidden Gardens

Anne Brassinga

In this panoramic collection, Anneke Brassinga goes in search of a new innocence in the veritable, the sources of paradise. She wanders through the 'garden of delights well no' – for aren't we prisoners in it, until death follows? She lyrically exchanges thoughts with fellow poet Piet Gerbrandy about the oppressions and enticements of human existence; she declares her love for Berlin ('ugliest city'), and for Het Himself singing ('This is a helping hand, not a guideline, cycled around / by whom once, firmly rooted, was Sinuous Smele'). And in untraceable gardens behind the Scharse Bergen, the setting of her youth, the lost happiness actually comes to light.