At a peace gatheringWe’re not only ten thousand I said
there are more of us here
the dead of both wars
are with us
A journalist came and asked
how could I know that
haven’t you seen them
i ask the clueless guy
haven’t you heard your grandmother
groaning when they started it up again
do you live all alone
without any dead who drop in
for a drink with you
do you really think
you are only yourself
how could I know that
haven’t you seen them
i ask the clueless guy
haven’t you heard your grandmother
groaning when they started it up again
do you live all alone
without any dead who drop in
for a drink with you
do you really think
you are only yourself
****--Dorothee Sölle
******The Mystery of Death
******2007 (posthumous book - Sölle died in 2003 with the manuscript in draft)
The English version of the poem is by the book's translators, Nancy Lukens-Rumscheidt and Martin Lukens-Rumscheidt. The German original, "Auf einer Friedensversammlung," appeared in Dorothee Sölle, Loben ohne Lugen (Berlin, Wolfgang Fietkau, 2000).
Photo by the blogger New York Portraits, 2008.
3 comments:
Oh, Jane, I love that... We should all be blessed with a few dead friends who drop in from time to time. They do live with us, don't they?
I seem able to get blogger blogs today. Maybe a lucky break or maybe I've done something right! Hope for the best.
Love,
Lindy
Oh my. Says it all, doesn't it?
Lord, have mercy.
Thanks, Jane.
Post a Comment