The Father

Der Vater ("The Father")
by Albrecht Haushofer

The deepest folktale from the eastern lands
Tells us that some spirits of the foulest force
Rest imprisoned in the midnight seas,
Sealed up by the Lord God's worried hands,

Until once in a thousand years, there comes
A fisherman who's granted this decision:
Release the awful powers from their prison,
Or cast away at once those fettered demons.

For my father there was this to choose:
Push the demon back into its cell,
By strength of will confine it to its hell.

My father broke the seal and let it loose.
He did not see the breath of evil's flight.
He let the demon drift into the night.

[Albrecht Haushofer (1903-1945) was shot by the SS near the gate of Moabit Prison on April 25, 1945]

— translated from the German by Pavel Chichikov
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