August Stramm (1874-1915)

Frost fire

Toes deaden.
Breath smelts to lead.
Hot needles dance in fingers.
Backs turn to snails. Ears hum coffee.
The fire swaggers with logs
and with a shrivel a crack
a satisfaction your simmer heart
sips
from high in the sky a seething sleep.

—Translated from the German by Alisiair Noon
(Berlin, 1914)