Problegger Darren Rowse asked some days ago, if English is your second language, in what language do you blog? Well, as you can see, I write in English. I have lived in the US for fourteen years, so that is a matter of course. But you know, there will always certain things, feelings that I can never convey in english.

For instance, why is this Dutch version of the achingly beautiful Leonard Cohen song, so much more beautiful to me. Listen please. You may not understand the words, but can you hear something else there? I don’t know. It remains the language of my parents in which I learned poetry. I will never have the same deep feeling for language in another language, even though many english writers move me to tears.

There is a certain loneliness to being an expatriate.

Technorati Tags: leonard cohen, suzanne, dutch, language, poetry

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