Poetry Magazine
means to an end
saw hammer drill
needle and tongs
are there any tools
that weren’t from the beginning
misused for torture and killing
throw away the tools
even the nails on your fingers
can scratch
and about the tongue
the chinese have a saying,
it can pulverize a person
is there not some means that peace
can call its own
erect a house
made of blossom petals
and bird down
capacious as a dream
and no one will live in it
all we have is
what keeps its form
to hold something together
you must use force
even for peace
Source: Poetry (March 2010).
Biography
Gisela Kraft was born in Berlin and lived in Weimar, Germany. She is the author of several works of poetry and prose, and a notable translator of Turkish literature into German. In 2009, she was awarded the Christoph-Martin-Wieland-Übersetzer-preis for Namen der Sehnsucht, her translation of Turkish poet Nâzim
Hikmet.
Poems by Gisela Kraft
Poem Categorization
SUBJECT Social Commentaries, War & Conflict
Poetic Terms Free Verse
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