Translated from the German by Andrew Shields

Heartrises
as if the world stood
in foliage only once
per life.
Haze-exalted
silver lettering
English
smoothed away
past all indications
grassy expanse.
In the middle of murder
honeysuckle enters the house
suckles the room
skull and sinuses
toward the hall
anchors in suspense
ready to tear.

Oral arch and auricle
shattered
rung to bits
by tramp teeth.
Behind curtains now
still the chamber heart.
Hunting knife
firmly in its grasp.

In search of traces of powder
and always successful
pawnbrokers
line
camp and beds
monitor the practices
cut
the word off
in clear outlines
for everyone
who does not
also
stab and behead
or just as well
strangle and stifle.

The house is just barely
tended by
muteness
on the margin