The War of the Houses
Puniness is a defect
Houses abhor.
Our houses wage against us
A deadly war.
Each day they send us abroad:
Go, get!
The commanded bread is won
With sweat.
The little houses crush
As mountains might,
They pull the rope about our necks,
A leaden weight.
Inexplşcable fury
That nothing sates:
With the inanimate, against
The animate.
Kitchen pot and dining table
Conspire together;
One keeps boiling what melts away
At the other.
Every objekt enters the fray
On the houses’ side;
Pipes burst, window panes break,
Open your purse wide!
Cloth and leather juktapose
Their treacherous share:
Scarce bought, they begin to show
Signs of wear.
The larder’s enmity
Is not less mean –-
Gone the butter, soap, sugar
The gasoline.
A snake stretches out in the sun:
Light a fire! The room wails.
Refuse to obey if you can,
Cold winter prevails.
Puniness is a defect
Houses abhor.
Our houses wage against us
A deadly war.
Translated by Nermin Menemencioglu
Houses abhor.
Our houses wage against us
A deadly war.
Each day they send us abroad:
Go, get!
The commanded bread is won
With sweat.
The little houses crush
As mountains might,
They pull the rope about our necks,
A leaden weight.
Inexplşcable fury
That nothing sates:
With the inanimate, against
The animate.
Kitchen pot and dining table
Conspire together;
One keeps boiling what melts away
At the other.
Every objekt enters the fray
On the houses’ side;
Pipes burst, window panes break,
Open your purse wide!
Cloth and leather juktapose
Their treacherous share:
Scarce bought, they begin to show
Signs of wear.
The larder’s enmity
Is not less mean –-
Gone the butter, soap, sugar
The gasoline.
A snake stretches out in the sun:
Light a fire! The room wails.
Refuse to obey if you can,
Cold winter prevails.
Puniness is a defect
Houses abhor.
Our houses wage against us
A deadly war.
Translated by Nermin Menemencioglu