Author: Utz Rachowski
Translator: Lyz Pfister
The mocking bird
was not wrong
high up
in your yard
the brick red
cardinal couple
sat there
on the wooden
unpainted fence
nesting robins
survived the storm
rocking
in the swaying pine
by the window
we watched
Philly the black cat
waiting down below
an ashen squirrel
tickling the trunk
fortune or misfortune
this is your world
and it was mine
the bird’s twitter
is a trick
fortune or misfortune
whatever his destiny
and our purpose
never lying
he was always up high
in your yard
though for a while
we forgot him in the game
he never lied to us
we never heard
his nevermore
that in the evenings
of those fortunate days
echoed in the voice
of the raven
Pulsnitz April 24, 2013
Original © Utz Rachowski
Translation © Lyz Pfister