The Hill of the Dead Poem by Volker Braun

Ceasar wathed from his tumulus
The distant sea battle Barbarian ships the maker of history
Sweating with fear After that is was a quetsion
Of sheer courage and billhooks
Ripping down the yards and the leather sails
BELLUM GALLICUM the usual Gulf War
Played out before the eyes of the land army on the cliff top cinema
And the sudden drop in the wind
And that´s how empires are made / I´ve seem them fall
Perched on his bones the Führer´s bunker
Grotewohlstrasse in the other Germany
The surprising onshore wind in the corridors
History blinks its eyes not to be blinded
Reeling THE DANCE ON THE WALL
The wall peckers with their little hammers
The Volksarmee looking on the army of the unemployed
One minute of my time

Translation: Michael Hoffmann