It
seems you’ve gone. Your last word
still faintly clinking in my
chamber:
the brittlelest shimmer lingered
some lovely hours.
Gone, just the same.
Long
have I known the sharp increment
of your faltering redoubt.
Long
now, unbidden, have I sensed
you
seeking my window out,
and
often hear unspoken
some muted sinking phrase;
and often the
familiar knocking
at
the door. Gone, same as always.
Mascha
Kaléko
Berlin
(Charlottenburg district)
44 Mommsen St.
1938
Translation,
from German, of Mascha Kaléko’s “Das letztes Mal”.
