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Poetry

His Story

By Zafer Senocak
Translated from German by Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright

when there were no secret parts
writing was devised on a woman’s body
no part left undescribed
men and their dirty fingers
mixed up one character with the other
until the letters couldn’t be read
they had never gotten around to reading
they became doubters of script
looking for the lost language
burned all books short of their own body
out of the ashes fashioned their dream dame
veiled it deep black
are illiterates still

English

when there were no secret parts
writing was devised on a woman’s body
no part left undescribed
men and their dirty fingers
mixed up one character with the other
until the letters couldn’t be read
they had never gotten around to reading
they became doubters of script
looking for the lost language
burned all books short of their own body
out of the ashes fashioned their dream dame
veiled it deep black
are illiterates still

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