Oysters
(For Alain Lance)
It isn’t often I live really, you
For hours now in my kitchen have been opening
The immigrant (with many papers) oysters and
With a hurting hand in a plastic apron
Singing. Take the Wolfs, all they can think
Of nowadays is eating, which they do,
Like everything they do, in depth. They’re human beings.
And I, with a lot of lemon, I anaesthetize
The naked little creatures then my palate
And swallow glumly. You meanwhile, with gusto and
Disgust, have slurped two dozen of these
Small cunts of the sea. Well then, I say
Let life melt in the mouth, a life
Between appetite and loathing, yes.
[1973]
Volker Braun’s notes: Importing living creatures into the GDR
involved a great deal of paperwork (l. 3). The Wolfs are
Christa and Gerhard Wolf (l. 5).
involved a great deal of paperwork (l. 3). The Wolfs are
Christa and Gerhard Wolf (l. 5).
Translated by David Constantine
Page(s) 18
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