much.
  Whether it's healthy is very questionable.
  After such a greasy lunch
  I really feel uncomfortable.
  But I belch beautifully and smoke
  Cigarettes now and then.
  Lying on my heavy belly,
  I chirp nothing but songs of spring.
  Longingly, as though on a ramp
  The voice squeals from the throat.
  And like an old lamp
  The wind blackens the bitter soul.

A Barkeeper's Coarse Complaint

  It's enough to make me throw the chair through the panes of the
  mirror Into the street—
  There I sit with raised eyebrows:
  All bars are full,
  My bar is empty—isn't that terrific…
  Isn't that strange… isn't that enough to make you puke,,,
  The damned jerks—the miserable phonies—
  Everyone goes right by me…
  Bloody mess…
  Here I am burning gas and electricity—
  May God and the devil damn me to hell:
  Damn It all… why is my bar the only empty one…
  Grumpy, reproachful waiters standing around—
  It is my fault—
  Not one damned person comes to the door—
  Cramped in a corner I sit with a hopeful face.
  No customers come.—
  The food rots, the wine and bread.
  I might as well shut the joint.
  And cry myself to death.

A Trouble-making Girl

  It's certainly late. I must earn something.
  But they're all going right by today with smug expressions on their
  faces.
  They don't want to give me a single good-luck penny.
  It's a miserable life.
  If I come home without money
  The old lady will throw me out.
  There is hardly anyone on the street any more.
  I am dead tired and freezing.
  I was never so miserable in my life.
  I move around here like a piece of meat.
  Finally someone comes over:
  An extremely well-dressed man—
  But in this life one can't tell much
  By appearances.
  He's also quite older. (they have more money,
  Young ones tend to cheat you.)
  We are face-to-face.
  I raise my clothes above the knee.
  I can get away with that.
  That's the big draw..
  Like flies to the light
  The guys are drawn to us goats…
  The John is certainly standing over there.
  He is staring. He winks. Now I'll go right by him…
  I think: he will give me a big piece of gold.
  Then I get drunk in secret on expensive liquor,
  That's still the best: sometime—alone
  To be drunk quietly, for myself—
  Or I can buy new shoes…
  I won't have to go around in mended socks—
  Or… sometime I won't go out walking the streets.
  And take a rest from the guys—
  Or… I'm already looking forward to this…
  I'm so happy—
  Here comes Kitty.
  And scares the man off.

The Drunkard

  One must guard oneself ever so carefully against
  Howling, without any reason, like an animal.
  Against pouring beer over the faces of all the waiters,
  And kicking them in their faces.
  Against shortening the disgusting time
  Spent lying in a gutter.
  Against throwing oneself off a bridge.
  Against hitting friends in the mouth.
  Against suddenly, while dogs bark,
  Tearing the clothes off a well-fed body.
  Against hurling into any old beloved woman's
  Thighs one's dark skull.

A Lieutenant General Sings

  I am the Division Commander,
  His Excellency.
  I have attained what is humanly possible.
  A lovely consciousness.
  In front of me
  Important people and chiefs of regiments
  Bend their knees,
  And my generals
  Obey my commands.
  God willing, my next command will be
  An entire military corps.
  Women, drama, music
  Do not interest me much.
  Compared to parades and battles,
  That does not amount to much.
  Would that there were an endless war
  With bloody, howling winds.
  Ordinary life
  Has no charm for me.

Falling in the River

  Drunk, Lene Levi walked
  In the neighboring streets nightly
  Back and forth, screaming, "auto."
  Her blouse was opened,
  So that one saw her fine, fascinating
  Underclothing and skin.
  Seven horny little men ran
  After Lene.

  Seven horny little men chased
  Lene Levi for her body,
  Thinking about what it costs.
  Seven men, otherwise very respectable,
  Forgot their children and art,
  Science and factory.
  And they ran as though possessed
  After Lene Levi.
  Lene Levi stopped
  On a bridge, catching her breath,
  And she lifted her blurred blue
  Drunken glances in the wide
  Sweet darkness above
  The street lamps and the houses.
  Seven randy little men though
  Caught Lene's eye.

  Seven randy little men tried
  To touch Lene Levi's heart.
  Lene remained unapproachable.
  Suddenly she jumped up on the railing,
  Turns up her nose at the world for the last time,
  Joyfully jumps into the river.
  Seven pale little men ran,
  As quickly as they could, out of the place.

A Poor Man Sings

  Those were fine times, when I still
  Walked in silk socks and wore underpants,
  Sometimes had ten marks to spare, in order
  To hire a woman, bored in the day
  Night after night I sat in the coffeehouse.
  Often I was so sated that I
  Did not know what to order for myself.

Twilight

  A fat young man plays with a pond.
  The wind has caught itself in a tree.
  The pale sky seems to be rumpled,
  As though it had run out of makeup.
  On long crutches, bent nearly in half
  And chatting, two cripples creep across the field.
  A blond poet perhaps goes mad.
  A little horse stumbles over a lady.
  A fat man is stuck to a window.
  A boy wants to visit a soft woman.
  A gray clown puts on his boots.
  A baby carriage shrieks and dogs curse.

The Night

  Sleepy policemen waddle under streetlights.
  Broken beggars grumble when they sense people.
  On some corners powerful streetcars stutter.
  And plush cabs drop into the stars.
  Among rough houses whores hobble back and forth,
  Sadly swinging their ripe behinds.
  Much sky lies broken in these dried-out things…
  Whiny cats painfully shriek bright songs.

The Cabaret in the Suburbs

  The sweaty heads of waiters tower above the room
  Like lofty and powerful capitals.
  Lice-ridden boys giggle nastily.
  And shining girls give painfully beautiful looks.
  And distant women are so very