Author: Uljana Wolf
Translator: Christian Hawkey

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

German original © KOOKbooks, Berlin 2005

Author: Uljana Wolf
Translator: Christian Hawkey

oh had i never been in the awakening room
deaf and stranded and rocking in a white boat

tied alongside other boats – yes this is
the last harbor yes this is the damp canal

of sleep where threatening nurses in black
robes stand like judges on the shore

each finger as a strict syringe: drip and
devil my darling can you hear me

and in these locks you can hear nothing
only stillness sanitized otherworldly water

feeding you from tubes drop by drop –
with each swift wave beneath your bed

the sea steals you back into the dream of
star and muzzle far from the awakening room

Originally published in German by © KOOKbooks, Berlin 2005

Author: Uljana Wolf
Translator: Christian Hawkey

oh if only I’d never been in the recovery room
stranded deaf rocking in the white

barge tied up by other barges
yes that’s the last harbour the damp

sleep-canal with black sisters standing
on the banks like judge and jury

threatening with stern finger-jabs: drips
and devils my love can you hear me

and you can hear nothing but this silence
in the sluicegates purging water that

nourishes you drop by drop from the tube –
while with swift blows under your bed

the sea steals you back into dreams of
stars and gags far from the recovery room

Originally published in German by © KOOKbooks, Berlin 2005