2018 Gulf Coast Prize in Translation:
Colonies of Paradise

Matthias Göritz transl. by Mary Jo Bang


The eyes, rivers and grass

To each one’s inclination:
The dying off, the dirt.

House, that bears the imprint of a door, you,
as a wrapped packet in a word chest, the dear sweet boy,
the off that he owns.

Plus
gloriously
empty of language:

You are—a real human being

A crow in the airspace;
You, little man, are one man—
You are a man, who disbands
and offs your own briefcase
by means of black coffee
or salt
or sunshine.

Lunchbreak.
Then: off.
One holds off two seconds ...

Then one goes home—to a garden
which is different from the year before last.
One often stands in front of it
as if still waiting around for something other at last.