You hold me now completely in your hands.
My heart beats like a frightened little bird’s
Against your palm. Take heed! You do not think
A person lives within the page you thumb.
To you this book is paper, cloth, and ink,
Some binding thread and glue, and thus is dumb,
And cannot touch you (though the gaze be great
That seeks you from the printed marks inside),
And is an object with an object’s fate.
And yet it has been veiled like a bride,
Adorned with gems, made ready to be loved,
Who asks you bashfully to change your mind,
To wake yourself, and feel, and to be moved.
But still she trembles, whispering to the wind:
“This shall not be.” And smiles as if she knew.
Yet she must hope. A woman always tries,
Her very life is but a single “You . . .”
With her black flowers and her painted eyes,
With silver chains and silks of spangled blue.
She knew more beauty when a child and free,
But now forgets the better words she knew.
A man is so much cleverer than we,
Conversing with himself of truth and lie,
Of death and spring and iron-work and time.
But I say “you” and always “you and I.”
This book is but a girl’s dress in rhyme,
Which can be rich and red, or poor and pale,
Which may be wrinkled, but with gentle hands,
And only may be torn by loving nails.
So then, to tell my story, here I stand.
The dress’s tint, though bleached in bitter lye,
Has not all washed away. It still is real.
I call then with a thin, ethereal cry.
You hear me speak. But do you hear me feel?
Die Dichterin
Du h
(Gertrud Kolmar)
More Poetry from Gertrud Kolmar:
Gertrud Kolmar Poems based on Topics: Woman, Death & Dying, Man, Time, Hope, Books, Cry, Life, Fate & Destiny, Speaking, Truth- Die Dichterin (With English Translation) (Gertrud Kolmar Poems)
- The Blessed (English Translation) (Gertrud Kolmar Poems)
- The Swan (Translated from the German ) (Gertrud Kolmar Poems)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Mind Poems, Time Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Cry Poems, Hope Poems, Fate & Destiny Poems, Woman Poems, Truth Poems, Books PoemsBased on Keywords: bashfully, cleverer, iron-work