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