H A N S   T H I L L
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ORTSVERÄNDERUNG: DIE SÖHNE

 

Translated by Tony Frazer

Change of Location: the Sons

 

1.

While walking one shook
his frame and on horseback
he was a naked nine
his brother let fields wither
that he planted a third lay
between two mountains harking
to the rockface

In the wet everyone ducked
humbly into the tent smoked the
peace-pipe with bent backs

2.

From far off came a relative
and the sons made music, first
honking horns through the streets then stacked
the listeners the trashed hall furnishings
right behind the stage. On this evening each man
wore his shortest shirt

3.

The sons spent their childhood hanging
head-first from horses their blonde manes
growing up against the steppe-grass
intertwined in sleepless nights with the
flax from girls who were listening out
for neighbourhood noises

 

4.

At midday the sons lay near one another
like signs in the sand. A quick prayer was read
from right to left and repeated from left to right.

From the ocean side a wet push drove
into their bodies and made them illegible

 

5.

The sons' enemies came off ships
approached the village palisades by night
with children's cries seized the strongest animals
and disappeared into the desert

6

The sons and their painted women
who sat in provocative poses on the [freshly] laid table
while their spouses bent over topographical
sketches. Field telephone / rushing the
guests / departure. The red pennant
high up above the animals.

 

7

On weary feet and up to the ankles
in sand the sons brought their children
salty bleeding food. Comrades rescued
from distress were dried out for three days
in the marketplace. Before they
broke camp to follow the cars
into the marshes the sons allowed
their dogs to roam all night long
through the dwellings

 

8

In the marshes there was food
and water to excess. The sons fled
from the mosquitoes up to the karstic
plateau until they could no longer bear
the herd's hunger cries

 

9

To the singing of their red-haired women
the sons sponged their animals clean.
The washing ended with the women
falling silent. Resin that dropped
from the trees was used
and the ashes from past times.
Also they patched up the tent or other sky roofs
singing their siren song

 

10

On the way to the waterhole
the sons died
No one could repeat their
last words. Those standing around
said their farewells with a handshake.
Now and then a fighter jet howled
over the tents

 

 

back to issue two

 

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