Gottfried Benn

Static Poems


Aversion to progress
is profundity in the wise man,
children and grandchildren
don't bother him,
don't alarm him.

To represent a particular outlook,
to act,
to travel hither and yon
are all signs of a world
that doesn't see clearly.
In front of my window
--wise man says--
is a valley
where shadows pool,
two poplars mark a path,
leading you will know where to.

Another word for stasis
is perspective:
you draw lines,
they ramify
like a creeper--
tendrils explode--
and they disburse crows in swarms
in the winter red of early dawns

then let them settle--

you will know--for whom.





trns. by Michael Hofmann

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