Marie Luise Kaschnitz, "Hiroshima"

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

HIROSHIMA

The man who dropped death on Hiroshima
Rings bells in the cloister, has taken vows.
The man who dropped death on Hiroshima
Put his head in a noose and hanged himself.
The man who dropped death on Hiroshima
Is out of his mind, is battling with risen souls
Made of atomic dust who are out to attack him.
Every night. Hundreds and thousands of them.

None of it's true.
In fact, I saw him the other day
In his front garden, there in the suburb--
With immature hedges and dainty roses.
You need time to make a Forest of Forgetting
Where someone can hide. Plainly on view
Was the naked, suburban house and the young wife
Standing beside him in her floral dress
And the little girl attached to her hand
And the boy hoisted up on his back
And cracking a whip over his head.
And he was easy to pick out
On all fours there on the lawn, his face
Contorted with laughter, because the photographer stood
Behind the hedge, the seeing eye of the world.


MARIE LUISE KASCHNITZ

Translated from the German by Eavan Boland

Comments

[dreadnought.livejournal.com]

I love Boland's book! I was just reading this poem a couple days ago. :)