POEM
from “Late”
Feel it—but remember, millennia have felt it—
the sea and the beasts and the mindless stars
wrestle it down today as ever—
think it—but remember, the most exalted
are wallowing in their own bow-wave,
are no more than the yellow of the buttercup,
while other colors too play their game—
remember and endure the hour,
there was never one like it, all are like it,
people and angels and cherubim,
black-winged, bright-eyed,
none was yours—
was ever yours.
Source: Poetry (November 2009).
This poem originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of Poetry.
BUY THIS ISSUE »
Gottfried Benn (1886-1956) served in the German army’s medical corps during WWI and . . . MORE »
