Sarah Kirsch
Spring-Tide II
From tar-black sea the moon
Rises. You’d better
Get under cover / beloved
Heart. Before nostalgia
Starts whimpering its lost dream / of
Yore. The moon
My oblivion shines
Red. Cold
The frost that’s fallen
Upon me. I long for
My childhood dream / of the beauty
Of the world / which lies
So wretchedly decaying / so
Ill.
And why should she not – as disregarded
Prophet – be disappointed? As dishonoured –
Impotent – irrelevant – outré –
Outsiders / why should we not
Indulge in anger – bitterness –
Cruelty – even
Guilt? After such knowledge / after
The usual keenness of Christians / to
Inform on their neighbours / (she
Unusually confused the Stasi by
Angrily confronting the
Beamter on her tail / demanding
To know what he’d like to know / or –
According to the file they gave her – remarking
“Well, aren’t you badly disguised
Again today?”) / after
The disappearances / the deaths / the
Dismissal / and, later, the
Revelations – whose brother, friend, colleague /
Including artistic colleague /
Informed on whom – and in no
Other Eastern bloc country / were there
So many duty-bound voluntary
Helpers – after such knowledge / such
Exclusion / what
Forgiveness? “Aber ist
Das eine Antwort?” Is
Such star-dwelling isolation / such
Withdrawal / any
Answer? The child is dead / will never
Be found. As Erlking’s daughter / how
Could she ever
Find it
Translated by W. D. Jackson
Page(s) 82-83
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