Do not ask, what cuts through the night

by Christine Lavant

translated from the German by David Chorlton

Do not ask, what cuts through the night,

for it is my night

and my great peacock cry

and deep inside, the tongue

with a message for me alone.

Even when the sun tomorrow,

worn out and almost deformed,

wants to rest with Purgatory's bud,

she will be driven away -

for it is my own bud

on the back of my stone

and for my approaching night.

* * * * *

Editor's note: In German the sun is female.

"Do not ask, what cuts through the night" is from SHATTER THE BELL IN MY EAR: SELECTED POEMS OF CHRISTINE LAVANT, Translated from the German by David Chorlton (The Bitter Oleander Press, 2017).

Christine Lavant (July 4, 1915 – June 7, 1973) was an Austrian poet and novelist.

David Chorlton is a poet, translator, and visual artist. He lives in Phoenix. http://www.davidchorlton.mysite.com/