Drop by Drop / Ruim Sop

Poem:            Majke Lüthi, 2021
Photo’s:         Roderick van Hasselt, 2021
Screenprint: Roderick van Hasselt, 2021





Drop by Drop

from my luscious foaming bath
I witnessed the way of
sailing sea scouts
in a lake nearby
drop by drop, I counted heads
boats and masts
heard their sails shake in the wind
and as I sank deeper in the warm water
I wondered…
who would be the one to determine their course
my toes stumbled upon your chest while doing so
you then followed my gaze outside
and predicted:
they will be tacking soon.


Ruim sop

vanuit mijn luxe schuimende bad
aanschouwde ik de watergang
van zeilende zeeverkenners
in de naastgelegen plas
druppelsgewijs telde ik hoofden, boten en mast
hoorde knisperend katoen klapperen in de wind
en terwijl ik dieper wegzakte in het warme water
vroeg ik me af wie daar de koers zou bepalen
mijn tenen stuitten daarop tegen jouw borst
je volgde mijn blik mee naar buiten
die gaan zo overstag, voorspelde je.




Drop by Drop is a collaboration between me and screen print artist Roderick van Hasselt and acts as a celebration of our friendship. Twenty years after we both attended a black and white photography course at the University Cultural Center in Groningen, The Netherlands, I asked Roderick to contribute a fitting image to one of my poems. Roderick is currently working as a marine pilot in the port of Rotterdam, and he in turn requested a nautical theme to work with as most of his screen prints feature nautical details which he spots while at work.

I had recently written a poem about sea scouts that I had spotted sailing on a lake close to Rotterdam. Before Roderick visited me at home, we still were a little clueless about what the final image could look like. The dreamy poem also references a bathtub, and coincidentally, some years ago, I had bought an old French bathtub, which I put in her garden. It seemed quite logical to both of us that the bathtub would become part of the art piece. A funny moment arose when I proposed to Roderick: So I guess I shall start writing the poem on the tub? and he nodded, as if it was a normal thing to do. That’s so nice about working together with a friend: the creativity seems to arise and flow quite naturally.

The final photo we selected is as dreamlike as the poem, perhaps suggesting that the person who is mentioned in the poem might be part of a daydream. After the sunny photoshoot, Roderick digitally edited the picture ready to be translated into a screen print. We considered digitally adding a mast on the bathtub and placing it on a lake, but in the end we kept it simple and again drew attention to the dreamy theme by adding the water-like reflection below the image.