Translated from German by Iain Galbraith
suddenly we could hear it.
in the pause between applause and the piece that followed —
in that brief lull, vast and still, the desert:
suddenly we could hear it.
high above the theatre hung
the rusting colt of the moon in its holster.
limos glided past without a sound —
stretch labyrinths in white.
the chill shark-eyes of those swimming-pools …
to this day, with our eyes closed, we see
the neon ads and coloured lights of a town
that blinks and blinks to ward off sleep.
the night is in us.
~ Jan Wagner
