through the glass window

all i see is your back

is there any chance?

or am i just fancying ideas in my head?

simple words is all they were

they didn't need to be more

yet i wanted more

i wanted you to love me

i wanted you to push aside 

the facts, the cold truth

that you don't even know me

but i know you

i see through your facade 

i want you

the real you without a mask 

we can't all get what we want

When I ran into you,
Your face was cold, covered with a mask,
Yet your eyes were so warm and welcoming,
Sending me a thousand heartfelt greetings!

You were physically distanced from me,
Yet your heart, your love was running in my direction,
So close I could feel it!

Your hands were hidden under gloves,
Yet your soul was radiating on me with such warmth!

Hussein Dekmak

Am I a liar
For being someone I'm not
When I should be me?

You ain’t no good judge of me 
You’re way too much in love with me 
You’re biased eyes they mislead you
You don’t see what’s in front of you 

Don’t put me higher than I am 
**** the angel you think I am 
Adjust your vision to see reality 
Don’t be fooled by my beauty 

I am evil, a ruthless beast 
Don’t forgive me, don’t let me feast 
On you weakness and your care 
I’ll devour it and steal your air

I starred at my broken mask,
It shouldn’t be such a difficult task,
I should let the world see me for who I really was.
They say scars make us beautiful,
They say be you,
I felt that didn’t ring true,
They say people could read us like books on a shelf,
People didn’t know the real me I said.
My persona was widespread,
I smiled behind a broken assortment of tears,
Held back and caged by fears,
I felt like whoever I was wasn’t enough,
I was never good enough,
Not loved enough,
Not cared for enough,
Not smart enough,
Not beautiful enough,
Not thin enough,
Not understood enough,
Not enough, just not enough.
I just stood there empty,
But half full,
I wanted to dream again,
I wanted to love again,
I wanted to laugh again,
I wanted to feel enough again,
Once again  I wanted my life to be steady,
I wanted to smile at my fears,
I had been hiding for all these years.
This, this is me.
Tonight, I want to fall asleep,
And not crying or upset,
It’s pain I want to forget,
I must confess,
That I want to fall asleep knowing that I’m enough.

Seeing myself
Through my lover’s eyes: forgiveness.
Through my own eyes: hatred.
Everyone else: only a mask?
Tortured self depiction.
False mirrors.
Where lies the truth?
Raindrops. Hair. Molecules.

Die Maske des Bösen (“The Mask of Evil”)
by Bertolt Brecht
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

A Japanese woodcarving hangs on my wall—
the mask of an ancient demon, limned with golden lacquer.
Not unsympathetically, I observe
the forehead’s bulging veins,
the strain
such malevolence requires.

Original German text:

Die Maske des Bösen

An meiner Wand hängt ein japanisches Holzwerk
Maske eines bösen Dämons, bemalt mit Goldlack.
Mitfühlend sehe ich
Die geschwollenen Stirnadern, andeutend
Wie anstrengend es ist, böse zu sein.

Bertolt Brecht [1898-1956] was a major German poet, playwright, novelist, humorist, essayist, theater director and songwriter. Brecht fled Germany in 1933, when ****** assumed power. A number of Brecht's poems were written from the perspective of a man who sees his country becoming increasingly fascist, xenophobic and militaristic. Keywords/Tags: Bertolt Brecht, German, translation, Holocaust, poem, Japanese, carving, mask, demon, evil, malevolence, sympathy, compassion, understanding, feeling, forehead, veins, swollen, bulging, effort, strain, exhausting, concentration, suggest, suggesting, suggestive, demonstrating, revealing, showing, wall, gold, golden, lacquer, paint, woodwork, totem, malice, hatred, enmity, spite, spitefulness, animosity, anger, maliciousness, malignancy, venom, spleen, viciousness

Bertolt Brecht Epigrams and Quotations

These are my modern English translations of epigrams and quotations by Bertolt Brecht.

Everyone chases the way happiness feels,
unaware how it nips at their heels.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The world of learning takes a crazy turn
when teachers are taught to discern!
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Unhappy, the land that lacks heroes.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Hungry man, reach for the book:
it's a hook,
a harpoon.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Because things are the way they are,
things can never stay as they were.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

War is like love; true ...
it finds a way through.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

What happens to the hole
when the cheese is no longer whole?
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It is easier to rob by setting up a bank
than by threatening the poor clerk.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Do not fear death so much, or strife,
but rather fear the inadequate life.
— loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Keywords/Tags: Bertolt Brecht, translation, translations, German,  modern English, epigram, epigrams, quote, quotes, quotations