Till Lindemann's 'Messer' - "Auf Dem Friedhof"

Rotten and rotting.

Two poems in one package. I wanted to have it separate but 'Auf Dem Friedhof' and 'Auf Dem Friedhof (2)' are related and probably better off read together. This poem is tagged 'trigger warning' and 'grimdark'.


(Poems no. 11-12 out of 54, located pg. 36-37 of ‘Messer’, 2010 print.)

Disclaimer: Poem copyrighted to Till Lindemann. This post does not include photos/illustrations of said poem from 'Messer'. The original German text is also not included. This is only a interpretive translation and accuracy is not guaranteed.



In the Cemetery

When my father was still living
He told me such a war-story
A piece of shrapnel had lodged itself in his back through his coat
And it had never been removed
For it was too close to the backbone
Over the years the shrapnel between his shoulders travelled
In a large pocket of pus
I am tired; I feel sick;
And I have still not found the thing.

In the Cemetery (2)

Found it
A large piece of metal
All black
I will take myself a letter opener
I'm good again.

They'll say someone has opened the grave of a new mother
And has left it a truly gruesome sight.

Original Meter: There is no consistent meter in either of the poems.

Original Rhyme Scheme: No consistent rhyme schemes either.

Comments: I remember 'Auf Dem Friedhof' being the two poems I tried desperately to make some other sense of - as a result of that, and the general lack of consistency in meter or rhyme, the translation is largely unaltered from the original posting. It is no less disturbing this time around either, and no - I'm still getting the straightforward impression.

But one must never mistake the personas of Messer poems for Till unless it is clearly stated. That's for certain.