The Old Man dozes off in a train compartment

The Old Man
dozes off in a train compartment.
Where is journey's end?
He's forgotten his destination.
The same plight awaits us
wherever we go. Or might it be
Paradise some day?
The Old Man dreams
of a naked woman.
To greet him she hands him
an apple. Thanks, Eve.
But my dentures!
The dentist has warned me.
That's why I have to abstain
from sin. And
must sleep on
to the end
of the line.


Translated by Hans-Christian Oeser