https://www.albany.edu/offcourse
http://offcourse.org
ISSN 1556-4975
Published by Ricardo and Isabel Nirenberg since 1998
<
Five Poems by Ute von Funcke, translated by Stuart Friebert and the author
Obdachlos
(1)
An Haltestellen sind
die Kippen länger
wachsen
aus Asphalt
Fund in
blauer Greisenhand
(2)
Im nächtlichen Zug
der letzte Mitreisende
Endstation
Ich sehe ihn schnüren
ein alter Fuchs ohne Bau
hinter Säulen ohne Zugluft
sein Niemandsland
Homeless
(1)
At bus stops
butts are longer
grow
from asphalt
a find in an old man's
blue hand
(2)
In the night train
the last fellow traveler
end of the line
I see him run in a straight line
an old fox without a burrow
behind the pillars no air stirs
his no man`s land
(1) Translated by the author
(2) Translated from the German by Stuart Friebert.
The poems that follow are shortened versions, adapted by the author, of poems translated by Stuart Friebert:
Im Lager
Die Männer
streifen umher
unruhige Wölfe zwischen
Frauen und Kindern
in den Zelten
flattern Schreie
nicht das Kind
die Erde dreht sich
gegen den Uhrzeigersinn
In the Camp
The men
gad about
restless wolves among
women and children
cries flutter
in the tents
not the child
the earth turns
counter-clockwise
Geduldet
Frauen schieben Brot
in die suchenden
Münder der Kleinen
nähen sich ein in
schwarze Tücher
auch ihre Mädchen
Im Lager schleift
Hoffnungslosigkeit
die Träume der Jungen
Sie blicken nicht auf
werfen Münzen
Kopf oder Zahl
Tolerated
Women push bread
into the searching
mouths of the little ones
sew themselves into
black cloths
their daughters, too
In the camp
hopelessness grinds
the dreams of the boys
They do not look up
throw coins
Heads or tails
Schatten im Meer
Dunkel
das Boot
dunkel
die Menschen
dunkel
das Meer
sein heulendes Peitschen
und sturmzerrissene Schreie
in den Rettungswesten
eisgefrorene Angst
Verzweiflung morst
ins Nichts
kreisende Kormorane
über den Schatten im Meer
Schweigen
nichts geschieht
Shadows on the Sea
Dark
the boat
dark
the humans
dark
the sea
its howling whipping
and cries shredded by storms
in the life-vests
fear frozen to ice
despair sends morse codes
into the void
circling cormorants
over the shadows in the sea
silence
nothing happen
Windgetrocknet
An der Wäscheleine zwischen
Apfelbaum und Gartenhaus
flatternde Formen
von Mann und Frau
vielfarbiger Kalender
des Alltags
ich mag den Geruch
frischer Wäsche
ihre Nachrichten im Korb
und dein blaues Hemd
Wind Dried
On the clothes-line between
apple tree and summer house
fluttering forms
of man and woman
many-colored almanac
of the everyday
I like the smell
of fresh laundry
its tidings in the basket
and your blue shirt
Ute von Funcke, who wrote plays for children before turning to poetry, has published five collections of poetry in German. Two selections of her poems have appeared in English, translated by Stuart Friebert: “Between Questions & Answers” (Pinyon Press 2018) and “Shadows of Shadows” (Black Mountain Press 2020).
Stuart Friebert (d. June 23rd, 2020) was a poet, noted translator from the German, and founder of the Oberlin College Creative Writing Program. Many of his poems appeared in Offcourse. He translated several books of Ute von Funcke's poetry.