THE AWAKENING ROOM I

oh had i only stayed in the awakening room
lost in dreams tied to drips beneath white sheets

where others also couldn't find themselves
a flock of sheep close to sleep close to god

and consolation and large nurses in white fur
– our shepherds bending softly over us –

if we surrendered one another to the human
riddle of numbers: on a scale of one to ten

how heavy is your pain? – and if there were
no borders that could again define us in

these fields, in the postnarcotic sniffling –
we would stick very close to this our i

indiscernible from other sheep grazing here
beside themselves in the awakening room


Uljana Wolf
translated by Christian Hawkey
German original © KOOKbooks, Berlin 2005

recovery room 1

oh if only I'd stayed in the recovery room
dream-lost drip-bound under white

sheets near others who'd also lost their way
a herd of sheep close to sleep still close to

god and comfort great sisterbeasts were there
our shepherds who bent softly over us -

and we introduced ourselves the number puzzle
man: on a scale of one to ten tell me

how much does it hurt? - and there would be
no barrier in sight that could reveal us

from the depths again out of the post-narcotic
snuffles - this time we'd stay quite close by

this self hard to tell apart from other sheep
grazing absently here in the recovery room


Uljana Wolf
translated by Tony Frazer
German original © KOOKbooks, Berlin 2005