Todesgedanken / Dead Thoughts
JOHANN WILHELM LUDWIG GLEIM
TRANSLATED BY JACE BRITTAIN
Ich bin noch nicht gestorben,
Und wenn ich einmal sterbe,
Dann will man mich begraben,
Und dann soll ich vermodern,
Und nicht noch einmal tanzen.
Jetzt, da ich noch nicht modre,
Muß ich noch Rosen pflükken,
Weil ich den Duft noch rieche;
Jetzt, da ich noch nicht modre,
Muß ich noch Mädchen küssen,
Weil ich den Kuß noch fühle;
Jetzt, da ich noch nicht modre,
Muß ich den Wein verbrauchen.
Werd ich im Grab auch dursten?
not too long
too fatal,
for you, a task,
a tempting;
my engraving,
under in deep soil i’ll molder
a sinked sunk
a bad a bath
a no-more-dancing.
Smell, not yet not now moldy
a mush of rose petals plucked
wiles: a duff which reeks
just a bit still
not molting
yes, mussy and
maddened
by kissing
a kiss a curse
i feel still
yet not yet too molty to
finish off
the wine so,
in the grave
will i be thirsty?
fatal fink*
JACE BRITTAIN
not too long dead......
succumbin not too long
...............................a task
..................my engraving
..................which under
...........i ,ll molder
a sinked sunk a......
no-more-dancing.........
caught ,somefin....
called ,somefin like....
fossilfuelnostalgiec........
ennuiford dissemblyline....
how every frame of film ever
is stock material; rendered-animal-parts
sing wind in a skull emptied
of ev ,r ,y idea ever;...........
............................................
..............used to say..............
..........if an ocean boiled......
........it ,d cook a lot of fish.....
............some jokes...............
..............age deep...........
....................................
.............................
Smell:...............
not yet not now
moldy...............
Whiff:.................
a mush floor of rose
petals plucked.....
of this duff......
Wiles which....
reek just a bit...........
................capsiz
,d bolles held fire....
an acrid all-tings-xchange......
.....................................total poultry
...............................................biomass
..................................a chickenlivers pail
...............................is calamity
......................anacrone buzz to
one thirstingstumbling fly........
not molting...............
....yes mussy &
maddened
by kissing......
a kiss a curse........
a feeling i still.....................
,sa comin not too long....
..............................absence
...........................v ,reciprocate
.............................v ,virtual
............................v ,many
.............................versions
................................futures
......................a paltry liverspail
........................let ,sprocreateawayinnit
........................just donttouch
...............face or hair
..................oxblood XL
....................badly X bathed
..................dont all fluids turn you
........................r fire bowlles
.......................sos
...................xox
....odonttouchme
....odontnotouching
........turn you
in yr grave?.........
............................
............................................
yet not yet too molty to..........
help me polish off the wine so.....
I ,ll be not thirsty ................
in the grave......................
....haveyoufinished
....yourbucketof
......louseeggs
....okissme
....imstarving
*contains in parts & fits & starts the translation of johann wilhelm ludwig gleim’s 1744 poem “Todesgedanken”
jace brittain is a writer, translator, and poet whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Sleepingfish, Destroyer, Deluge, Entropy, Crag, Dream Pop Journal, and the Babel Tower Notice Board. They received their MFA at the University of Notre Dame. As a PhD student at the University of Utah, they study fiction, illegibility, and the intersections between digital, animal, and ecological writing. They are an editor for the Halophyte Collective zine in Salt Lake City and founding coeditor of the independent press Carrion Bloom Books.
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