Black Lawrence Press, 2010
THE INEVITABLE WAITS
(translated by Daniele Pantano)
The inevitable waits
It’s not coming. You are
You are the mouse. So
Don’t be a hero
When for the fearless
Even the avoidable
Is unavoidable
Fear. Stay human
What belongs to you, doesn’t
What belongs to all, does
The right thoughts
They are friendly
Even when they seem hostile
You cannot think them alone
You cannot check them alone
You don’t strike on them alone
Alone you appear in front of them alone
They are your judges and ours
We are wrong and you, not they
Love their verdict, use it
Perhaps then the dark animal
Lolling under a bed
Or purring, crouched by a street
Will perform humanely
Its inhuman day’s work
And not devour you
In a gas chamber
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) is commonly seen not only as the most prominent Swiss novelist, playwright, and essayist of the twentieth century but as one of the most influential authors of modern literature.
Daniele Pantano is a Swiss poet, translator, critic, and editor born of Sicilian and German parentage in Langenthal (Canton of Berne). His most recent works include The Possible Is Monstrous: Selected Poems by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and The Oldest Hands in the World (both from Black Lawrence Press, 2010). His next books, Oppressive Light: Selected Poems by Robert Walser and The Collected Works of Georg Trakl, are forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press, New York. For more information, please visit http://www.danielepantano.ch.
[The above translation is reprinted here with permission of the translator.]
THE INEVITABLE WAITS
The inevitable waits
It’s not coming. You are
You are the mouse. So
Don’t be a hero
When for the fearless
Even the avoidable
Is unavoidable
Fear. Stay human
What belongs to you, doesn’t
What belongs to all, does
The right thoughts
They are friendly
Even when they seem hostile
You cannot think them alone
You cannot check them alone
You don’t strike on them alone
Alone you appear in front of them alone
They are your judges and ours
We are wrong and you, not they
Love their verdict, use it
Perhaps then the dark animal
Lolling under a bed
Or purring, crouched by a street
Will perform humanely
Its inhuman day’s work
And not devour you
In a gas chamber
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