815 | Sirens

Drawing by Christoph Janacs

Sirens 2

The song of sirens,
awakening me from a dream
on Saturday afternoon.

The howl of low-flying aircraft,
while mother runs
pushing the baby buggy

in front of her, screaming,
the patter of impacts,
as she holds her hands

protectively over the grandchild,
as if she could
keep off death,

and decades
later she still talks about it,
as if it all

happened yesterday:
an absurd scene
that never ends.

CHRISTOPH JANACS, Austria, 1955
Translation Germain Droogenbroodt- Stanley Barkan