Gibraltar Poem by Steffen Popp

there (Goethe)


Beloved do you know hatred, trees
the Spanish wall
do you know the islands, the crusaders
in their one-man torpedoes —

Beloved, forgive me, to Golgotha I planned to travel
however in the dresser drawer
lay only a gold revolver (so I stayed).

Do you know the sea, traces of fearlessness
in the foam, Beloved, in the foam
do you know the country, its dislocated hydraulic arm
heavily it lies around, beneath the hungry air
aimless wind
traces of wool , warmth, dust.

Gladly I would set out
Beloved, would live with you under lemon trees:
yet in my tragic veins
the elements of Gibraltar
and of all lost capes move sluggishly around
manic, lidless eyes -

my heart is a countess, surrounded by attendants
at the city's periphery, Beloved,
the rented pianos bellow!

Translated by Christian Hawkey