Gerold Späth
[from a new manuscript]
When the scent
of snow descends
along the shore
Betsy cooks bacon
and beans and
other goodies
Home is where
my Betsy is
She’s always
game
1000 weeks of high-grown
grain tossing back
its swishing mane
bright and gleaming come on:
so you’re fishing for a bit
of sweet talk, uncle !
Should’ve thought of that
a few prostheses earlier
Us ladies ain’t
into old geezers
with bubba teeth these days
Now that’s the kind of
shrill we like
Makes you realize
you’ve still got
something
in your pants
The really truly
real-deal
resurrection
Of the flesh
Clearly following
The boss’s directions
Lazing around
with fishing rod
baiting your
hard-working neighbor:
idleness most
insolent !
Letting worms skinny-dip
in public: indecent
if you ask me
The Capuchins are
the only practically
practicing
papists
Always with a
poor sinner’s rope
But wisely not
around the throat
Unfortunately
none of
Morandi’s
beautiful bottles
only dry
landscapes instead
Show your face
rambling rogue
foxtailed
cock of the canal
making
infatuated hens
prostrate
and pregnant
Three cheers
for all those old
bones that
plague us only
with their
rattling purses
Translation: Flett/Schelbert
