If we take a closer look
At our situation,
One could easily use
Zoological comparisons.
The time of beasts is gone,
We are poor as ants,
We sit like moles in our grave,
We live like animals.
Perhaps like predators in a cage?
Like tigers, panthers, lions?
No, that comparison doesn’t work,
One is not allowed to jump or scream.
No, one must stay in secrecy like a mouse,
Stay calm and composed,
Even though sometimes, like a cat backed into a corner,
One would like to jump and meow.
One feels like a bird in captivity,
Longs to fly outside,
One would like to sway
Onto the branches of the tree of freedom.
Yet, one fears the traitorous snake
And other discomforts,
And the tree of freedom stands sadly,
For its branches are still bare.
One feels like a goldfish in a glass,
Being gone into hiding after all,
Yet hopes that one day
To be able to set sail.
A goldfish is little less pale
Than we, who are chained:
Lippmann, Rosenthal have our gold,
As far as it has not been peculated.
So, countless animal images
Occurred to me today,
And I kept comparing,
Until they bored me.
We all hope, wish
To leave collectively
The bestial existence
As humans among humans.
Post-Editing: Robert Saunders, Sylvia Stawski, Ernst Sittig
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