Between the Teeth

By Kirsten Hammann

I`M SO SICK OF MY BODY

I`m so sick of my body
I must educate it
and order it about
and speak harshly
Suddenly it drinks from the wrong bottle
or gasps for air in an infected room
When we have been to the park
it just stays there on the bench
and I have to go back and fetch it
In all respects it is childish and unreasonable
I`m almost ashamed of it

What a nuisance it is
to see it flail about and act up
Then it`s food
FOOD, it wants food!
or warmth, sleep
much too expensive and long showers
popular music, drinking parties
romantic moments
it spends hours
pretending to procreate
and then it`s the heart
it begins to sigh
it is broken
somebody of no consequence has tramped on it
how boring it is
and still I feel a certain concern
it is so bloody and banal
it doesn`t know what to do with itself
that worries me
it just grows older and older
and prone to stumbling

Translated by Per K. Brask