When you don‘t speak English
to hear of a good English detective story
not yet translated into German.

On a hot day, to see a beer
you can’t afford.

To have a new thought
you can’t wrap into a verse by Hölderlin
like professors do.

At night, when away, to hear the waves come in
and to tell yourself: they‘d always do that.

Very bad: to be invited
when at home the rooms are quieter,
the coffee better,
and no conversation required.

Worst of all: not to die in summer
when everything is bright
and the earth is light to the spade.

Gottfried Benn, What is bad