A lack of a system is all very well, Mr. Nietzsche
(and so damned honest – no doubt about it –
since the mind is such a muddle
and the uttered thoughts are weapons –
sharp, inadequate)
but was all that perhaps merely an excuse so that others could do the dirty work?
For nothing is more exasperating than a slothful hand
and a bunch of people demanding an explanation
an explanation!
so you end up saying what you didn’t want to say at all so you end up forgetting
and end up getting muddled.
And what’s more, they blame you
for your lack of rhythm and clarity, for your lack of weapons.
As if the world were a well-tuned clock.
So – you said – it’s better to write just as it comes and let others pull the chestnuts out of the fire.
I know what I want to say,
I know what I believe in. How well I know what pitfalls are in store for lovers
of truth and clarity. Whoever wants to find out has to go it alone.
I can’t be bothered with plumbing the depths of my mind. (To say nothing of this world.)
Weapons only lead to pointless and brutal wars.
Translated by Richard Pierce and Stamatis Pollenakis
(first appeared in English in Poetry Review, Vol 102:1, Spring 2012)