nice shoes he pointed to
my shoes i took them
off i know you he smiled
you’re a movie star i
smiled back camera
switched on he rolled his
eyes you can take a
picture of me i counted
the money out he put the
notes in his breast pocket
bowed briefly &
took me by the hand
where do you come from
the ground was slippery the
stone slabs cold nice
country a sticky pressure
on my soles crusted
animal blood ash red blossoms
charred at the edges
mandarin peel a
sucked out sun
down this is our
godness i’ll catch my
death here hands
reaching out towards me hands
coming out of eyes
pictures from the TV you can touch
i go past you can
ring the bell try wretchedness in
brightly colored robes that helps
i ring the bell the
goddess doesn’t show her tongue
she sleeps he places
his hand against his cheek
between his teeth
fruit flesh is caught
my toes are rotting
i think as a half
naked smile pours
a bucket of water before
my feet sorry
no problem he lights
a joss stick
takes my donation
& speeds up his
prayer i hold my breath
he presses a
red dot to my forehead
i bow lucky no one knows me
here she’s asleep i’m
sweating alright it can take
weeks till it breaks out
try it’s sweet i’m conscious of
my shoes you
can eat it black leather
no problem a second skin
against contact with the ground
high heels you walk
in them as if you were
floating smelly shoes he
laughs again she
gives you a wish just get
me out of here but tell nobody
he takes my remaining
money off me i hold on
tightly to the laces I feel
as if my eyes barefoot
are standing still and will have to
learn to walk again nice
shoes i look at him
astonished he soothes me
saying i know you’re a
movie star yes i say &
lie to him he laughs is laughing
still but tell nobody
*****
Albert Ostermaier was born in Munich in 1967. He is known mainly for his poetry and plays. His first volume of poetry, Herz Vers Sagen, was published in 1995 and was awarded the Pen Liechtenstein poetry prize. Heartcore, containing the poem “barfuss durch den tempel,” was published in 1999. As well as publishing several more collections of poetry, his first play, Zwischen zwei Feuern- tolle Topographie, was performed in 1995 and his plays have been premièred in Mannheim, Hannover, at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, at the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel, and at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He has written 3 novels, Zephyr in 2008, Schwarze Sonne schiene in 2011, and Seine Zeit zu sterben in 2013. He has received numerous prizes, including the Kleist Prize, the Bertolt-Brecht Prize, and the Welt Literature Prize for his work. He plays football in goal and lives in Munich.
Mandy Wight is a linguist, speaking and working with German, French, and Spanish, though German is the language with which she works most, having spent periods of her life living and working in Berlin and Tübingen. She is a former teacher and has taught in secondary education, adult education, and higher education. She is now a freelance translator specializing in literary fiction.
From Albert Ostermaier, “barfuss durch den tempel,” from Heartcore © Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, translation © Mandy Wight 2015.