Translated from the German by James Womack


august rhapsody

1.
i falling fell
against heaven’s fabric, instinct with desire,
against the compacted air, damp earth, thick roots,
the layered turf, the earth’s white matter,
her fire-hot seeds
that poured their heat to the earth
and the earth was made desert, unseen,
             judged innocent,
and she refused food, refused        
             to name names,
began to turn round another’s axis.
now they call her Moon.

2.
the mirror reflects the face that butts it;
kicks off the fight and wins it easily,
but the blow’s force makes the face shatter:
...