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I can't sleep. Every time I doze off, the traffic light outside changes, and the cars screech to a halt or start up and I wake up. I can't read-- After an hour I clench my fist, whispering why didn't I stay home where things are silent and familiar and everyone sleeps the same hours I do. But here! In this motel, sheets stiff and scratchy, air stuffy, he lies beside me smelling of wine, not bothered by the traffic outside. He snarls periodically, "Will you shut up that whining." This is how I always see him--on his terms-- noisy motels by traffic lights and the sinister desk clerk downstairs. Nothing falls in place. I lie sobbing by the man I love because we are so alien.
Text Authorship:
- by Nellie Hill , "Boyfriend", appears in Astrolabes, first published 1975, copyright © by Nellie Hill, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Christopher Berg (b. 1949), "Boyfriend", from Two Poems by Nellie Hill, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Boyfriend", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-22
Line count: 24
Word count: 127
Ich kann nicht schlafen. Jedes Mal, wenn ich wegdöse, schaltet draußen die Ampel um, und Autos kommen quietschend zum Stehen, oder sie fahren an, und ich werd’ dann wieder wach. Ich kann nicht lesen — wieder eine Stunde vorbei; ich balle die Faust und sag leise vor mich hin, warum ich nicht zuhaus geblieben bin, wo alles ruhig ist und vertraut, und jeder zur gleichen Zeit wie ich schläft. Hier jedoch in diesem Motel mit den steifen Laken, die auch noch kratzen, liegt er neben mir! Er riecht nach Wein, der Verkehr draußen stört ihn nicht. In regelmäßigen Abständen knurrt er: „Hör bloß mit dem Gejammer auf!“ So treffen wir uns immer - zu seinen Bedingungen - in lärmigen Motels an Ampelkreuzungen und dem finsteren Typ unten an der Rezeption. Nichts ergibt Sinn. Da lieg’ ich schluchzend bei dem Mann, den ich liebe, weil wir uns so fremd sind.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2017 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Nellie Hill , "Boyfriend", appears in Astrolabes, first published 1975, copyright © by Nellie Hill, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-28
Line count: 24
Word count: 147