englisch Red Mountains, White Desert, Who Cares

Red Mountains, White Desert, Who Cares

Translator: Paul-Henri Campbell
published in: DAS GEDICHT chapbook. German Poetry Now. Ed. by Anton G. Leitner and Paul-Henri Campbell, vol. 1, January 2014.
Original title: Rote Berge, weiße Wüste, egal (28/05/2013)
published in:
Ägyptische Plagen
– Ägyptische Plagen; TTS Zentralabitur Deutsch 2024. Braunschweig: Cornelsen Verlag 2022; Texte, Themen und Strukturen NRW Zentralabi Deutsch 2020 u. NRW Zentralabi 2021 u. NRW Abi 2022 u. Zentralabi 2023, Cornelsen Verlag 2018.

Sample

So, there I am: wedged between my bag
and baggage on the back of a pickup!
Left and right of me, the rest of the world
as ruddy mountains and glistening sands
and the mirage of a quivering road somewhere,
just as in a simulator
only that it’s played in reverse mode;
who cares.

And then the airstream rushing past
my face harsh and hot, I could hardly
catch a breath. And if they’d crashed the truck,
I would’ve ascended to the heavens
in the blink of an eye, grinning with a row
of twinkling teeth, amidst the stench
of burnt asphalt, rubber, and plastic.
I didn’t feel a thing, yes, that’s it,
didn’t feel anything!

Not even myself.
Where did I come from? Who cares. To where
was I headed? Who cares! In the place
of a horizon, not even a foggy clue.