Frau von Ungefähr (The Nearabouts Woman)

Englische Übersetzung

Nearabouts, at five to six,
the woman next door left the man
still sleeping next to her.
She took the key off the wall
gasped briefly for air, then vanished.
She thought she could leave for good.

The door slammed shut as she shuddered
remembering the letter in her bag concerning him,
the man she wrote to a long time ago
embellished word for word –
but no mention of leaving for good.

She spoke of the raging sea
that scorched the heavens,
of the day left unbroken by the night
of the consuming gaze that neither would forget.
Goodbye my love, see you soon, auf Wiedersehen!

Now she is poised in the here and now.
She senses something is in the air,
but only time has made her come unstuck.
Days slip awayfrom her.
Without her the bed is too empty.
She cannot leave for good.

Nearabouts, at five past six,
the woman from next door
lies down beside the man
still fast asleep beside her.
Very slowly she peels off her dress
and pulls up the cover.
A reunion – how do you do that?

She dreams of the raging sea…