Fatigue, oh what
Fatigue . . . Far too many
Birds, flies, worms,
To begin with,
And that is not
The end. Oh, no.
My brother was inside me, my twin.
One day he told me
To leave him. That is the verb
He used: "to leave."
Boy, I thought,
If only I could be
Like you,
And be the one who is being left.
But no —
For a long time already
Have I been living
In pact with this presence.
Is that
What love is really for?
To lend us a new conception
Of ourselves?

English translation by Jenny Jochens