{"id":24852,"date":"2025-11-12T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/?post_type=stsp_text&p=24852"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:36:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:36:56","slug":"a-strange-surprise","status":"publish","type":"stsp_text","link":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"A STRANGE SURPRISE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You still are a palpable thing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is as if
The skins\u2019 didn\u2019t have to<\/em>
Weren\u2019t being sold
To the back on<\/em>, on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A religious scheme just the point
Reaching it melted ever
More firmly onto the many
Segments rigid with audacity
But no capacity to touch edges
In the panoply of moving
Components continually approaching\u2014
The stubborn were flowers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against an era whose pointy
Digital sundial kept
Hammering its nonchalance and
Showering tolerance onto
Bloated zeppelins of
Canaletto-like boxes of
Prerogative with which
The horizon was crumpled, boiled frankly
Forever once they came close enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tried it once.
The way they exploded<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Took most of us down too though some escaped,
Who, having runners or having remained since
Yesterday, like a corpse, yet restless, were given
A chance to pick their own exaggerated calm
Apart by watching the performance from the window
Of a castle, relatively, sitting for a while
On the sill, then warming their hands on the idea
That they<\/em> were the castles that the shirt always had<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanted to iron out, and now there was no shirt anymore,
Was there. Or at least the main laundry building was now
Wreathed in a burying fire. And it would no longer be much
Question to mop up the few remaining cuffs if war-bands
Of them seen reassembling to come back from far enough
Were off, with swift and accurate kicks to the head and groin
While the iron was hot\u2014what a relief. Hard-headed, elapsed
They may have been, tenaciously built up against the
Smooth spreadability of the functionality of the congregation
And developing a logic that they might insist on calling themselves,
The fakes, the bludgers\u2014there was nothing left to discuss with
Them, if there ever had been. Enemies clung on bulging
Like dirt to their roots and all it was time for soon was
Bringing up the high-powered hoses. This process
Began in kindergarten, where the tube starts to first unroll
And must learn about connecting its own loose ends to those
Belonging to some other spigot, pre-installed with
Recent concepts, before we tell it to go to sleep
Down in some cul-de-sac of the fresh world
Lest all the excitement improve it
Then us beyond recognition. But,
In the formless realm beneath eyelids
There is a plastic locust cut into
The youngster\u2019s growing capacity for nostalgia
And by and by this got away from us completely.
Grade Four was reached and we knew it
And sure enough, we had lost sight of our plan
For the further education of this piece of piping
We had thought to impress deeply by trusting it
To an extent and thereby get it all wrapped up
Around the importance its role could have for us
If only it behaved\u2014like the snake round the trunk
Of the initial tree\u2014and whom we only had to set off
With a carefully placed, older-person-style joke
For its flanks to start rippling in derelict mirth.
You can imagine the rest, because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What became of that fruit,
And especially how gobbling it up
Has joined the problem to that which
It was meant to answer, \u2014
Writing down the answer
As concisely as possible in the space provided\u2014
Is, as we guessed, both infinitely
Divisible and infinite in extent, and thus
What we had planned out as guideline, clear boundary
And rule of life in aggressively large print, have led in
The end to the pursuit of slap-happiness whose lam\u00e9
Only looks becoming on us when we let it
Transpierce the side-pouring details
That our lips moved over automatically,
Hounded by old coworkers and friends
Beneath rain specks.
They were always willing to let the bulk
Heads drifting down the light, and be nothing
More than an arrant reminder, of
Headstands that they were doing up
Against the wall on weekends, well. Weren\u2019t we all.
Our research in this similar position
Has now revealed the footpalm of a connection
Between nothing more than more and more
Jarring decors, which did its best to
Pretend not to be a combat somehow
Wigglier than most, though the habit, too,
Was immediately constant, fluid, and declared
As such, while inert, and inept to raise
Any eyebrows at the ever-green
Defencelessness, floppy like the still-fresh grasses
Of a spring that would never see the night again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just then, acres were being taken away on rare
Manners, dumped, with ceremony,
Into the loose care of deputies who cold-handed it
In from the expanding afternoon with the feel of an autumn
Yawning out of control into summer with the bricks floating away
On a resistless tide of welfare-cheating brake fluid.
The trees there, \u2014their friendly shade and ripped duration\u2014
They picked and chose about their rust, and seemed
Incompatible with the stated program\u2019s
Wall-eyed blazons, until it was all explained
Now that it was obsolete, but still up for
Two more weeks to remind us how much
Everybody had gone through already,
And how much more there remained to process,
To be owed totally exposed to it
And its eternal sifting, like a can
Beneath the opener of weather
Of Damocles, hoping it would turn
Back soon, though it showed no sign
Of the slightest tension towards a
Reverse, of being, like a toothpick
Of savage warning hewn down
From terrifying titanic trunks, to leave no scar safe
From the blaze thickening on the local clip mule\u2019s
Licked-down, isometric front.
we\u2019re the bunnies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we\u2019re the bunnies here
on the ship of april
there are cop cars on the ship
& inaudible cabin-wallpaper
talks as they drive up it
take place within their cars, wheel-hands
clutching each wheel\u2019s whitish tube
(i assume.) my mind leaves
my cabin where it is and now
the so-soft wallpaper appears
to breathe \u2013 something must have
happened to it, stuff rocks,
we hope the bunnies wake up
on the paths\u2019 various darkness.
over the intercom, spokescreatures rant
about the sides, and that the slope
down to the water is wet : how their balding
chats cut over the deck
like the rolling of demented tires
& there\u2019s the animal
tiredness-depression
in the blinks of the animals
between what they say \u2013
words\u2019re stretched and some times grin
to get slower and slower
as the walls also breathe
in some semifinal daze
coming up
the cabin stairs
to meet their owner, encompasser
(we hope for ourselves)
who\u2019s likewise on someone\u2019s compass,
bussole, (pointed ears, cleaning,
cared for, bunny, cabin dweller, under
those captains, heads
of that kaputt space, looking out the window
at those complex railings, keeping well, guided
passenger, pushing the ship,
pushing the ship\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

say plut\u00f4t i have lived my life
in rooms where other people also
lived their lives, who were also people
who measured, etc. and i continue<\/em>
do i think of my friends as
merely thinking gives me a headache<\/p>\n\n\n\n

just thinking about it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a haggard merle
pecking in the empty park in feb
where the burghers will soon troop
on their lunch break, choosing
among pinched paths, an array,
choosing between equivalents
under the cold wind
as if living
between the beams of the sun
whose brightness
they can\u2019t measure
but only its registry
on a means of measure,
and that pinches my lenses
where an ending seems too conclusive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

like the mediocrity of gardenshow
sites with no garden showing
or the reality of the lean-tos
and burnt down environmental centres,
and of lunch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and then, i should have said, the park
will no longer be empty and was
never empty as anything is contained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You still are a palpable thing That is as ifThe skins\u2019 didn\u2019t have toWeren\u2019t being soldTo the back on, on A religious scheme just the pointReaching it melted everMore firmly onto the manySegments rigid with audacityBut no capacity to touch edgesIn the panoply of movingComponents continually approaching\u2014The stubborn were flowers Against an era whose pointyDigital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":24901,"template":"","categories":[64,11],"class_list":["post-24852","stsp_text","type-stsp_text","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-33","category-lyrik"],"yoast_head":"\nA STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale:alternate\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You still are a palpable thing That is as ifThe skins\u2019 didn\u2019t have toWeren\u2019t being soldTo the back on, on A religious scheme just the pointReaching it melted everMore firmly onto the manySegments rigid with audacityBut no capacity to touch edgesIn the panoply of movingComponents continually approaching\u2014The stubborn were flowers Against an era whose pointyDigital […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T09:36:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@stadtsprachen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/\",\"name\":\"A STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-12T14:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-13T09:36:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/a-strange-surprise\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Texts\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/en\\\/text\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A STRANGE SURPRISE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\",\"name\":\"stadtsprachen\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"stadtsprachen\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"stadtsprachen\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stadtsprachen.de\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Stadtsprachen\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/stadtsprachen\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/berlinerliterarischeaktion\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/mastodon.social\\\/@BerlinerLiterarischeAktion\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen","og_description":"You still are a palpable thing That is as ifThe skins\u2019 didn\u2019t have toWeren\u2019t being soldTo the back on, on A religious scheme just the pointReaching it melted everMore firmly onto the manySegments rigid with audacityBut no capacity to touch edgesIn the panoply of movingComponents continually approaching\u2014The stubborn were flowers Against an era whose pointyDigital […]","og_url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/","og_site_name":"stadtsprachen","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen","article_modified_time":"2025-11-13T09:36:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@stadtsprachen","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/","name":"A STRANGE SURPRISE - stadtsprachen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-12T14:35:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-13T09:36:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/rafael-arkenau-i-9ZXVVYB4U-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/a-strange-surprise\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Texts","item":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/text\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A STRANGE SURPRISE"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/","name":"stadtsprachen","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#organization","name":"stadtsprachen","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cropped-logo_stadtsprachen_taubenblau.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"stadtsprachen"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Stadtsprachen","https:\/\/x.com\/stadtsprachen","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/berlinerliterarischeaktion\/","https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@BerlinerLiterarischeAktion"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/24852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/stsp_text"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/24852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24853,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stsp_text\/24852\/revisions\/24853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stadtsprachen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}