Rolf Dieter Brinkmann
German Poems
In London, Flat 6
from Westwarts 1 & 2, 1975
: one goes and comes back,
sings a few dirty songs
in the rain,
through which a good girl walks with a
big brown bag, 'it changes
the routine,' that is
an old hat. It hangs
on a nail, in the fog, next to the gas cooker, on
which real English tea
is being brewed, coarse and unambiguous.
Donovan dragged his wooden leg
past the bookshops, in search of
a new song.
It was just at that time.
A tomato soup steamed by the Thames.
The mannerists hung
askew.
2
London is hard to feel, with one's tongue
hanging out. The fourth time there were
avocadoes, glass splinters, tears. The district was
covered in lively dust.
3
In Rome I thought of London. In London I thought
of Rome. When I was in Cologne I thought of Amsterdam.
4
Under the yellow foglight
discoloured flesh.
A new realism sprang up, stood around.
Music made its way up.
Hot orange tea at Lyons,
a strip tease girl lived for one afternoon
in my head, October.
5
For reading: the new English
psychiatry, and you're outside.
6
Through the hotel
negroes walked. And like a black morning over
the yellow fried egg with red shrivelled
bacon on pale china,
they began to sing,
past the bookshops, in search of
a new song.
It was just at that time.
A tomato soup steamed by the Thames.
The mannerists hung
askew.
2
London is hard to feel, with one's tongue
hanging out. The fourth time there were
avocadoes, glass splinters, tears. The district was
covered in lively dust.
3
In Rome I thought of London. In London I thought
of Rome. When I was in Cologne I thought of Amsterdam.
4
Under the yellow foglight
discoloured flesh.
A new realism sprang up, stood around.
Music made its way up.
Hot orange tea at Lyons,
a strip tease girl lived for one afternoon
in my head, October.
5
For reading: the new English
psychiatry, and you're outside.
6
Through the hotel
negroes walked. And like a black morning over
the yellow fried egg with red shrivelled
bacon on pale china,
they began to sing,
'three weeks
late.'
poetrymagazines' note: Reproduced with kind permission of the Michael Hamburger Trust.
Translated by Michael Hamburger
Page(s) 158-9
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