3) Der Hund auf dem Schiff

Christian Lehnert
Monday 2 October 2017

3) Der Hund auf dem Schiff:

    Credo quia absurdum

 

Hechelnd, daß die Angst ihn nicht greift, nicht einwächst

in den hohen witternden Kopf, ihn engt, wo

sonst die Welt sich zeigt, weil sie riecht, ihr Atem

härtet zu Dingen,

 

steht der Hund gespannt auf dem Stahlsteg, schnüffelt

irr, wo nichts mehr sicher ist, nirgends Fährten,

selbst sein Herr in Spiegeln versinkt, und weiter

folgt er ihm fraglos.

 

(2.10. 2017, Nachbild von den Fähre Amsterdam-Newcastle)  

 

Translation by Madeleine Evison

 

Dog on the dock

 

Panting, against the fear that grabs, that spreads

across the highly sensitive mind, his world constricts

where otherwise it shows itself, because the scent,

the air hardens to objects

 

The dog stands tense on the steel dock, sniffing

widly, where nothing is certain anymore, tracks nowhere

even his master disappears into reflections, and onwards

unquestionably he follows him.

 

 

Translation by Elisha Herring

 

The Dog on the Ship

 

Panting, so that fear does not strike, nor takes root

in his hunting mind, and constricts that mind where

the world oft appears, due to scent, its breathing

makes things show themselves,

 

excited, the dog stands on the deck sniffing

madly, down an uncertain path, a lost track,

his man sinks into the mirror, and he goes

after him gladly.

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