6
Here too, the cat expects
birds in the long grass.
We always mistook the earthquakes
for slamming doors.
The children are going rather gray.
7
Oh, British racing green, dolphin days,
the sycamore grounds
translated into feeling.
If you’re agreed,
we’ll read
the instruction manual for survivors.
8
Palmyra
is a squabble over tips,
father-in-law, son-in-law,
the surface is concave,
deposits of elusive Hölderlin,
correctly attributed
in his absence,
keine Deutungen,
die jemanden müde machen.
9
Ein kranker Schnee
und die in Tretbädern
leicht löslichen Patienten, –
hebt mich auf
für die vorletzte Sprechstunde,
wenn die endgültigen Winde
die langen Gedichte hersagen.
no interpretations
that would only make you tired.
9
A diseased snow
and the patients all too soluble
in footbaths—
put me down
for the penultimate consultation,
when the terminal winds
will recite long poems.