" The Buried Woman // Die Begrabene

In life we all pursued our aims.
What held us up was lust and games.
What drove us on was want and strife,
And what we earned: an end to life.

So now I lie stretched out alone,
All covered up with earth and stone.
"I have and want" I cannot say;
"I must and will" became my way.

In lands of light exults decay.
He clothes himself as blue as a day;
In many forms deceives the eye,
And builds the tower of Babel high.

We see his face in movie halls
And nailed to newsstands, fences, walls;
His name is there for all to see;
"Success," he's called, "Technology."

His cruel machines, his brutal crimes
Break every record of our times.
His coffin governs East and West.
But will it soon be laid to rest?

The victory of death seems near.
But no! At last a grave appears,
Awakens, yawns its jaws to bite,
And crushes death in lasting night. "

― Gertrud Kolmar