The Verse of Alfred Lichtenstein Part 4

Morning

... And all the streets lie smooth and s.h.i.+ning there.

Only occasionally does a solid citizen hurry along them.

A swell girl argues violently with Papa.

A baker happens to be looking at the lovely sky.

The dead sun, wide and thick, hangs on the houses.

Four fat wives screech in front of a bar.

A carriage driver falls and breaks his neck.

And everything is boringly bright, healthy and clear.

A gentleman with wise eyes hovers, confused, in the dark, A failing G.o.d... in this picture, that he forgot, Perhaps did not notice--he mutters this and that. Dies. And laughs.

Dreams of a stroke, paralysis, osteoporosis.

Landscape

(for a picture) With all its branches a slender tree casts The s.h.i.+ne of darkness around poor crosses.

The earth stretches out painfully black and broad.

A small moon slips slowly out of s.p.a.ce.

And next to it strange, unapproachable, huge Airplanes hover heavenward!

Sinners filled with longing look up, with belief And tear themselves out of their tombs.

The Concert

The naked seats hearken strangely Alarming and quiet, as though there were some danger.

Only some are covered with a person.

A green girl often looks into a book.

And someone else finds a handkerchief.

And the boots are disgustingly encrusted.

A sound comes from an old man's open mouth.

A young boy looks at a young girl.

A boy plays with the b.u.t.ton on his trousers.

On a podium an agile body rocks To the rhythm of its serious instrument.

On a collar lies a s.h.i.+ny head.

Screeches. And tears.

Winter

A dog shrieks in misery from a bridge To heaven... which stands like old gray stone Upon far-off houses. And, like a rope Made of tar, a dead river lies on the snow.

Three trees, black frozen flames, make threats At the end of the earth. They pierce With sharp knives the rough air, In which a sc.r.a.p of bird hangs all alone.

A few street lights wade towards the city, Extinguished candles for a corpse. And a smear Of people shrinks together and is soon Drowned in the wretched white swamp.

The Operation

In the sunlight doctors tear a woman apart.

Here the open red body gapes. And heavy blood Flows, dark wine, into a white bowl. One sees Very clearly the rose-red cyst. Lead gray, The limp head hangs down. The hollow mouth Rattles. The sharp yellow chin points upward.

The room s.h.i.+nes, cool and friendly. A nurse Savors quite a bit of sausage in the background.

Cloudy Evening

The sky is swollen with tears and melancholy.

Only far off, where its foul vapors burst, Green glow pours down. The houses, Gray grimaces, are fiendishly bloated with mist.

Yellowish lights are beginning to gleam.

A stout father with wife and children dozes.

Painted women are practicing their dances.

Grotesque mimes strut towards the theater.

Jokers shriek, foul connoisseurs of men: The day is dead... and a name remains!

Powerful men gleam in girls' eyes.

A woman yearns for her beloved woman.

Sunday Afternoon

Packs of houses squat along rotten streets, Around whose hump a gray sun s.h.i.+nes.

A perfumed, half crazy little poodle Casts exhausted eyes at the big world.

In a window a boy catches flies.

A badly soiled baby gets angry.

On the horizon a train moves through windy meadows: Slowly paints a long thick stroke.

Like typewriters hackney hooves clatter.

A dust-covered, noisy athletic club comes along.

Brutal shouts stream from bars for coachmen.

Yet fine bells mix with them.

On the fairgrounds where athletes wrestle, Everything is dark and indistinct.

A barrel organ howls and scullery maids sing.

A man is smas.h.i.+ng a rotting woman.

The Excursion