Der Englische Friedhof, Kamp Lintfort/Rheinberg, Germany

Avoiding the masses in the Ruhr area's 2010 activity still-leben/stillife A 40 as the European Capital of culture we visited the English cemetery. Clean, peaceful, respectful. Different religions, different continents rest next to one another. The shock came when suddenly it became clear that the airmen from the Royal Air Force were buried together when they died on the same day. Seeing twenty graves of young men and one or two women made realize the massiveness of the dying in WW II.

If they call you to go to war just don't do it. The following poem is by Fred Schywek, the English translation by Maxime De Winter

pics:sms:foto duisburg/rhein, germany, © 2010



Weingesang am Feuer

Blues for an American Boy

Ich weine um dich
kleiner Negerjunge
Papa aus der Reserve
geht in die Wüste
ins Giftgas
in brennende Ölfelder

er muß töten
kleine Kinder wie du
sind freundliches Feuer

ich weine um die Kinder
die versklavt in arabischen Harems sitzen
den Türkenjunge in Side
der mir meine blue suedes pützen
wollte mit zerfetztem Gesicht

setzben wir uns
ans Feuer
und töten das Monster

ich weine um dich
kleiner Mensch
*
Boy Inside
(Lament at the fire)

I cry for you
little black boy
daddy from the reserve
is going to the desert
is going to the poison gas
is entering the burning fields of oil

he must kill
little children like you
are friendly fire

I cry for the children
(who are) enslaved in Arab harems
for the boy inside
with his tortured face
who wanted to shine my blue suede shoes

(let’s) sit down
in front of the fire
and kill the monster

I cry for you
U little man
*