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Eines kaltes und schwach beleuchtetes Morgens,
wachte ich, oder so ich dachte,
zu nur einem neue unverfängliche Tag.

In Verlauf des Tages
wurde es mir schwer zu unterscheiden
zwischen Wach und Traum.
Eigentlich, jetzt dass ich dran denke,
mir scheinen sie noch die gleiche zu sein...

Die am beide
beginnen und enden
sind grenzlos und begrenzt
sind echt und Illusion
sind ganz und gar im Kopf.

In der Zwischenzeit dieses Traums
hatte ich irgendwie gelernt dass vor allem,
man muss lieben, was macht man froh.

Dann,
als ob 'ne Stimme
von hinten meinem Kopf:
"Mach schon, Junge; mach mehr davon!"

Dieser Morgen war heute Morgen.
Tja, vielleicht nicht wörtlich,
doch wahrlich sinnbildlich;

ich weiß es ist wahr
die Sonne hat noch zu setzen
auf meinem traumähnliche Tag
A familiar Dream

One cold and dimly lit morning,
I woke, or so I thought,
to just another unsuspecting day.

In the course of the day
it became difficult for me to differentiate
between waking and dream.
Actually, now that I think about it,
they still seem to be the same to me...

They both
begin and end
are infinite and finite
are real and illusion
are entirely in the head.

In the meantime of this dream
I had somehow learned that before all else,
one must love what makes one happy.

Then,
as if a voice
in the back of my head:
"Come on, boy; make more of it!"

That morning was this morning,
Well, perhaps not literally,
but certainly symbolically;

I know it is true
the sun has yet to set
upon my dreamlike day.


--
Challenged myself to write in German, this is the result and my translation. Enjoy?
Johanna Khan May 2013
Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Werden meine Gedanken klarer
Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Zerplatzt ein neuer Traum
Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Zerbricht mein Herz in neue Stücke

Dein Anruf hat mein Herz zum Rasen gebracht
Ich konnte nicht aufhören zu lächeln
Die Zukunft war eine Traumwelt
Du und ich und unsere Träume in ihr vereint
Gedanken an dich haben meine Tage verschönert
Gedanken an deine Stimme
Gedanken an deine Augen
Gedanken an deine Umarmungen
Gedanken die mich lächeln ließen
Und mir jetzt das Blut in den Adern gefrieren lassen

Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Werden meine Gedanken klarer
Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Zerplatzt ein neuer Traum
Mit jeder Träne die fällt
Zerbricht mein Herz in neue Stücke

'Take care' waren meine letzten Worte an dich
Die Antwort von dir - nur ein Lächeln
Dein letztes Lächeln für mich
Ist im Nachhinein auch mein letztes Lächeln gewesen
Nun flüstere ich jeden Abend mit dem Mond
Doch mein 'I miss you' wird dich nicht erreichen
Denn dein Mond ist jetzt ein anderer
Du hättest dieses eine Mal auf mich hören sollen!
David Backer Jul 2011
Exhaustion sweeps over me like a tidal wave of sleepy blue silk
The fluid, viscous substance slows me
I feel heavy, weighed down as though by drenched clothing
The tide comes in, and I hear the lullaby of ten thousand soft voices
My eyes close and I feel the waves wash over me, covering me, swaddling me
I slip across the barrier
Where it is only mine, mine and no one else's
A box of sand I sprinkle into my own eyes
To bring good dreams, or blindness
Which may after all be one in the same.
"Traum" is the German word for Dream.
Physical Pain subsides;
Mental Pain persists.
Title is "Dream" in German.
The same word part means "Scar" in Greek
and is the root of the English "Trauma".
[Please scroll down for an English translation.]

Keine Hoffnung toter Träume:
Ich dreh mich nicht mehr um mich selbst.
Ich lebe zwischen Streichhölzern
Und glaubte, mir gehört die Welt

Warum soll ich die Wunden lecken,
Die Zeichen meines Lebens sind?
Ich denke oft an stille Post –
Vielleicht hörst Du mir doch mal zu.

Und abends geht die Sonne auf,
Weil ich es will in meinem Traum.
Antworten sind Gift für Seelen,
Weil die Fragen sie erdrücken.

Denkst Du oft an mich beim Schlafen?
Ich weiß nicht, ob das wichtig ist.
Ich bereue nur, Dich nie gefragt zu haben:
Vermißt Du eigentlich Spanien?
___________
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

No hope of dead dreams:
I do not revolve about myself any longer.
I live among matches
And presumed the world belonged to me.

Why should I lick the wounds
That are marks of my life?
I often think of Chinese whispers –
Perhaps you will listen to me once.

And in the evening, the sun rises
Because I want it so in my dream.
Answers are venomous to souls,
Since questions stifle them.

Do you think of me often in your sleep?
I do not know whether it matters.
I only regret never to have asked you:
Do you ever miss Spain?
irinia Jan 2017
'Traum ist des Besuchers Schaum'

love,
imposition,
matryoshka dolls
sore cage-ribs
stories are replayed,
everywhere crossroads with no signs

we cross each other
heads are heavy like pumpkins in the sun
hearts weary of keeping hope alive
I recompose myself within the confinement of sunrise
falling falling further further down
to the anarchy of living
the seduced seducer, the ripped ripper
the air collapses on collars, lapels

we all visit the fountain of thirst
secretly

they still want to learn what love is
the visitors with hurricane hearts and hungry hands
the trainers of dyeing darkness

dog days are over
healing hands are genuine and humble
he finally feels the lightness of the heartbeat

(I no longer look like a fool to you...
yes, you!)
Nigel Morgan Aug 2014
In memory of
Patric Standford
1939 - 2014

It looks so insubstantial this score,
its opening notes and rhythms
surrounded by a weight of silences,
empty bars where the players rest,
in anticipation, in limbo, rest,
while their colleagues bow and blow
‘in serene cheerfulnesss’,
or so I imagine Hanslick will write
after the premiere. He will say
it is ‘manly but gentle,
animated by good humour
and reflected seriousness’.
What tosh!

And I will say, when I write
to Fritz my publisher,
- and I shall be ironic of course -
‘It is a work of a darker hue,
meditative rather than tragic,
but full of grace and charm.’

Walking the lakeside
at Pörtschach by the Wörthersee
I think all these words and more,
ahead of the notes I shall write here
in my simple room in the Hauptstraße
where today my piano arrived,
to be miraculously tuned
by Herr Grabner’s daughter,
a shy girl, barely sixteen he says
and blind, to my gruff presence
certainly, her small hands,
barely able to stretch the octave,
play at her father’s behest,
my Wiegenlied.

. . .
Schlaf nun selig und süß,

schau im Traum′s Paradies.*

Ah, that this, indeed, might be so.
. . . Sleep now blissfully and sweetly,

see the paradise in your dreams.
lili Jul 2018
I fervently pray the stars will exhort themselves to shine a little brighter for you.

I fervently pray that the stars love confessions convened as mere twinkling in our murky skies reaches your most abhorred constellated thoughts.

I fervently pray that Asteria, the starry one would exhort her little ones to lustre their youthful laughter on your window panes
in hopes to ease every ache you behold.

For you are astral, and in every traum, you could hear Asteria indeed emanating her vows across every utopia.

The vows articulated:

"For thee, I'll make the one thee adore the joyous out of all"
I just want the one I adore to be at ease at all times.

p.s Asteria is the goddess of stars.

**
Snow Aug 2021
du.
Du. Du bist alles. Alles für mich.
Alles ist die Luft die ich atme,
die Sonne die mir ins Gesicht scheint,
der Regen auf meiner Haut,
die Fähigkeit zu leben.
Zu leben als gäbe es kein morgen,
als könne jede Sekunde,
jede Träne,
jedes lächeln,
jeder Sonnenuntergang,
jeder Traum
mein letzter sein.
Mein letzter Atemzug.
Ich ertrinke in dir
und du ?
Du stehst 500 Meter von mir entfernt und schaust mich an.
Meine Haare fliegen im Wind,
es ist kalt.
Deine Blicke ziehen mich aus
und das einzige was von mir übrig bleibt ist meine weiße,
kalte Haut.
Meine braunen Haare,
meine blauen Augen.
Und ich ? Wer bin ich ? Wer war ich ? Wen hast du aus mir gemacht ?  
Dich zu verlieren war einst mein größter Schmerz,
das Gefühl zu ertrinken,
keine Wasseroberfläche in Sicht.
Alles dunkel,
Pechschwarz und doch,
doch fühl ich mich leicht,
fast frei, ein Gefühl von Leichtigkeit.
Ich hab mich verloren.
Deine Liebe hat mich konsumiert,
ausgesaugt wie ein Vampir,
bis meine einzige Seele dein war.
Du nahmst mich mir weg.

Du bist nicht alles,
das hab ich jetzt verstanden.
Ich war alles,
alles um zu leben.
Und nun ? Was nun ?
Hab meine Seele dir gegeben,
mit Hoffnung, Hoffnung,
dass du auf sie aufpasst, sie beschützt.
Doch jetzt verstehe ich.
Ich verkaufte meine Seele an den Teufel.
Ich fühl mich gebunden,
du bist im Besitz des meinen.
Geb' mich frei.


Und doch,
doch werde ich mich nie wiedersehen.
Ich bin weg,
schwebe wie eine verlorene Seele in unserem Universum.
Und nun ?
Du musst verstehen,
du existierst nicht mehr,
nicht wie vorher.
Also vergiss nicht,
verliebe dich wieder,
liebe mit all deinem Herz,
jedes Atom soll vor Glück sprießen,
aber vergiss mich nicht.
Leg deine Hände um dein neues Ich.
Liebe mich,
hege und pflege mich,
heiße mich mit offenen Armen willkommen.
Und wenn du mich fast verlierst,
dann schnapp mich,
halte mich fest,
so fest wie du kannst,
und lass mich niemals los,
niemals.
Mateuš Conrad Jun 2018
ich manchmal traum von
                          ein nachdenkenberg

because how many direct articles
do you actually need,
to construct german,
   and the index, of pointing,
as if through fog?

das... as in: that's thinking...
   in the form of abbreviating
a lighbulb moment of:
                                  gedanke...

a castle where only shadows
move, while all mirror-forms
remain: schtill (
   i had to apply the yiddish
to differentiate it from plain
ol' english)...

                      on the altar of
the grammar of the peoples...
sat a fat *****,
        a fat ***** sat,
   and peeling his rotting skin,
ate, and ate, and praised
the myths of Hannibal,
   like the usual fugitive of
sabbath.

      since how far is
           θought from φilosoφy?
some would say not far...
         less a problem solving:
"thinking outside the box",
  and more:
            claustrophobia,
of being stuck inside a box,
      imagining a terrace hanging
over Venice...
    
     hence the "supposed"
                                       audacity?

some people never will
enjoy thinking...
                            strange,
       that i was bound to finding it
a delicate pleasure...

i sometimes dream of a castle
     of thought...

      impregnable by anyone but me...
yet here comes the mob
of Alexandria at the turn of the millenium...
and i am "supposedly"
                        never myself?

at times, but a splinter,
       of a much larger trench of
timber.
Mateuš Conrad Jul 2022
i put the index and ******* of my right
hand... the tips... in a V (5) shape...
and i see a third eye...

then i count the number of holes in my body...
two nostrils...
one mouth... 3...
two eyes... 5...
two ears 7...
                    one ***... ha ha... one *******
/ **** duct...       grand total? 9...
what does it in "mean"? P...

i've returned to the land of jokers...
seriously... i never appreciated Greek philosophy...
ancient Greek philosophy:
because? there was no Byzantine philosophy:
well... there was...
the New Testament...
which had it's ******* pride whitewashed
by the Turks sacking Constantinople...

see... i don't believe in any Judeo-Christian
ethnical trap craps...
i don't... it's a load of dog-whistles and
bigger dog *******...

i believe the New Testament was crafted
as a Greco-Judeo "conspiracy theory" against
the Roman Empire...
i'm actually thrilled that my heart
entertains this idea...
why else would the Greeks keep the notion
of empire alive far longer than the Latins?
they would become Byzantines and not Greeks?
they would... morph the Glagolitic script
into Cyrillic?

mein gott! and i'm sort of like an Arab...
the Teutonic / northern crusades against
the last pagans of Europe:
who "we" coupled with with the ******-Lithuanian
Commonwealth... **** me... "we" probably
even employed the use of Tartars to defeat
the iron-numb-skulls on horseback...

i think i'm lucky: i haven't won the lottery:
but: boy... i have...
the historical lottery...
    ZERO post-colonial guilt tripping...
last time i heard: it took **** Germany &
Soviet Russia longer to dismantle Poland
than it took **** Germany to conquer France...

eh?! the memory of Napoleon went missing?!
maybe the French girls just love to ****
foreigners... maybe they're easily approachable...
i'll blow a bubble-gun at them...
surely they'll submit... ha ha...

no no... i just did a U-turn today...
i became drunk on my own "intellect" / memory...
i remember buying this book as a teenager...
Tao... huh? and this one passage stuck with me:
a categorical imperative unlike any
German thinking:

the best way to aid the world:
is to forget the world
   and for the world to forget you...

it might have been a hardcover exemplar of what
Tao was about... but it didn't cite anyone...
only yesterday i was listening to a podcast
by Carefree Wandering... this Barbarossa shackled
by / in Shanghai...

a name dropped...  Zhoung Zhou... ergo?
the Zhoungzi...
     it was a really hot day today... today was a really
hot day... i "forgot" about painting the fence...
instead i did the ironing inside... shirt off...
then i prepped the bbq...
   turns out... my female cat likes music...
she loves the Red Hot Chilli Peppers...
  i love the Red Hot Chilli Peppers...
     **** me: i hate the Beatles and i hate the Rolling Stones...
to me there's only one FAB 4...

i'm like a giddy... chirpy sparrow singing...
albeit with a poker face...
when i worked security watching them live...
but with an element of retrospect...
because... that wasn't me at the gig:
that's me ironing shirts...
and watching my VERONIYA relaxing
with the music being played...

there are two greatest compliments in this world...
another person likes your cooking skills...
yeah: they actually eat the food you cooked
for them...
and?
an animal enjoys the music you're listening to...
the animal is not freaked out by the noise
that's the transcendence of a tap-dripping tap 'ap ap ap...

i don't know which is better... probably
the latter...
            you know: when you listen to music...
have a memory of a gig... you worked security on...
then you're ironing shirts...
and your female Maine **** is not ******* off...
and you're sort of: all "itchy": but it's not an "itch"...
it's a "feeling": a feels...
            i was born with it...
                    when i was younger and my father ******
off to England to better our economic prospects and
i didn't see him from age 4 through to 8...
my mother through the age of 6 through to 8...
grandparents... two dogs...
Bella... Axel...
                            Joseph and Hella...

i'd get gifts sent back to me...
a Nintendo this and that...
        i was generous... i shared...
but when i shared...
i had this numbing-excitement sensation...
whenever i witnessed people using my "stuff"...
i can't explain it... it just felt much better than
an *******...

like the case of scent in the film Perfume...
i can't capture this feeling... this tip-of-the-fingers
sensation...
excited mingling with numbing...

**** me... Veroniya loves AROUND THE WORLD...
it has become my new favourite
Red Hot Chilli Pepper song...
and they are my "peers": i hate the Beatles...
i hate the Rolling Stones...
but? i love Bob Dylan...
   best way to appreciate Bobby?
on a train from St. Petersburg to Moscow...
overnight...

Metallica or Godsmack... once upon a time...
the former... but these days?
the latter...

that's where i parked "my horse":
because i wasn't going to unwind with ego-tripping
***** pageant mechanisms
for allowing competition:
why is it that all the pretty girls
become prostitutes...

please tell me it's untrue: but... it's true...
all the pretty women become prostitutes...
all the "ugly" men are leftovers...
shadows... but hum in on some beached whales
and it's more than likely that she
will replicate... itch... ooze... ugh...
fair enough...
      i need my mind to be crisp...
i need to be getting numb and drunk with
the sages of Chinas... yeah... the plural...
from 600 years before Chrissy..

         i'll blame it on the fact that it was a hot day...
or i'll blame it on... ****...
i got intellectually drunk today...
i knew about Tao a long long time ago...
but i was never told the pinpoint
the anti-Confucian element...
really?! ZHUANGZI?!

                         that helps...
   i never liked ancient Greek thinking to begin
with...
            German thinking? yes...
esp. correlating an antithesis to **** ideology...
i loved that part... Heidegger above Beethoven...

the dead rest: the living live as if resting...
the dead are NOT: at rest...
the dead are resting...
while the living are simply living and resting
at the same time...

i have made a 180 return to to Tao...
today i became drunk from the intellectual
play on what could be a...
play on words: more... a play on word-idea...

who did i support?
in the Wimbledon final?
i am an anti-racist... but when i heard....
she's playing tennis for the Arabs...
for the Blacks... blah blah...
i switched off... please... sport?!
no politics...
   ******* of narrative..
  you just destroyed Afghanistan...
   Iraq... Libya...
        why do you suddenly summon
a care for Ukraine?!

                                  *******!
nahts steht hunger starr in unsern traum!
ja... ich... hassen mein haben menschen!
das letzte サムライ....

              alle letzte! ah! was ist verloren?!
beste zu tanz! beste zu tanz!
beste zu singen!
             mein herz... mein: werden...
mein: etwas...
               mein: letzte hoffung und liebe...

kommen sie mein am wenigsten
      wollen von ein kind...

         mein kind... mein kind...
mein einfrieren luft...
                     mein: hämmern erde...
das tanzen freuer...
        mit wasser: irgendetwas...

shift shaft: shuffle... SH...
wechsel... welle... mischen...

                   das ist gut?!
                       men born for merely a grave...
menschen geboren für
    nur ein graB...
                             nein nein: niet: ein sharpened S...
you saw it! ein B'eh!
graB...
                
                              i think i will die a happy man...
i think i will die a happy man because i
anticipate so many people dying unhappy...
the guilt-tripping-gripping...
i wish i lived a long time ago...
i wish i lived years ahead of stated times...
me?!
i'm trying out Daoism...
   or rather... returning to it...
           this be the zenith:

i must stress it in German:

dies sein die zenit! das ende...
                         the wind fills the pillows...
while my thoughts clamour for hiking
clouds!

— The End —