The Flemish poet Lucienne Stassaert

Here is the first poem of Lucienne Stassaert's collection 'Songs of Farewell'

There is a song

that turns

time around

do you remember how

and now how

and now how

what a voice

would call happiness

sounds

unbearably clear

to begin with

and at the beginning

of the end?

irgendwo

irgendwo

the melody is

then

lost

do you remember how

and now how

and now how

it twinkled

and sparkled

until you heard

a bell tinkle:

love is used up

the measure’s full –

A voice is left

behind

in a music-box

it does not say how

say how long

it is stuck

and the way to open

the box-lid

you still know how

and now how

and now how

you will have

to lift up a stone:

it’s me, father,

let me in

no matter how

no matter how

For another of her collections, go to here