After the Second Flood
by Wilhelm Lehmann
Waters and earth once more are parted,
But no bow’s token overhead.
Boads choke on sands and stony deserts,
Since what was human time has fled.
From Nowhere rose a Here — the strophes
The yellowhammer drops are weak.
By human voices overwearied,
Silence prefers this way to speak.
The yellowhammer drops are weak.
By human voices overwearied,
Silence prefers this way to speak.
Where bombs once tumbled, iron is rusting,
With mindless grass the place is floored.
Like dragontails the breezes flicker,
No dragon guards this kind of hoard.
The heavens glow, the stones are trembling,
The yellowhammer still sings on.
The second flood has for survivor
Not Pyrrha, not Deukalion.
The yellowhammer still sings on.
The second flood has for survivor
Not Pyrrha, not Deukalion.
Translated by Babette Deutsch