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The Nightingale Question: 5 Poets from Saxony,
edited and translated by Tessa Ransford.
Shearsman Books, 58 Velwell Road, Exeter, EX4 4LD www.shearsman.com  ISBN 0-907562-52-3 A5 pbck, 106pp, £8.95, bilingual English and German.

Given that the featured poets - Wulf Kirsten, Uta Mauersberger, Andreas Reimann, Thomas Rosenlöcher, Elmer Schenkel - are from the former East German and lived under a Communist regime, there is a temptation to look for hidden meanings in these poems. Creative forces in the former Communist countries, whether they were poetic, artistic, cinematic, or other, always seemed to be able to get their message past the censors, sometimes by using the best of hiding places open view. That these poems have several layers of meanings, or rather several possible interpretations, is without question. It is interesting to speculate as to how many secret meanings the German originals offered to the citizens of East Germany. One undeniable fact is that these poems are successful: virtually every word has a job to do and does it well. Even the poems about poems work. Andreas Reimann in 'Poem about Poetry' gives us -

     Poems come to nothing long before
     they scramble into words on the paper.

There is an aura of reality in this volume. In contrast to the immaterial throw-away poetry currently being published in England, these poems are of consequence, they matter, and should be kept and read over and over again. Here you will find emotions, experiences, dreams, soul even and not just mindless reportage or Creative Writing exercises. These poems are full of energy, both potential and kinetic. Thomas Rosenlöcher begins 'Quarrel' thus -

     On the path a shallow pile of leaves
     which even in slumber rustled and coiled
     madly around and inward upon itself.

There is even some cynicism, Wulf Kirsten in 'A Walk Through Town' refers to Goethe as dumbed down bait for tourists. This is a worthwhile book that reflects life in East Germany then, and eastern Germany now. The book is complemented by an introduction by Karen Leeder, a foreword and poem from the editor and translator Tessa Ransford, and portraits by Joyce Gunn-Cairns.