And though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God.
O the chimneys
On the ingeniously devised habitations of death
When Israel's body drifted as smoke
Through the air -
Was welcomed by a star, a chimney sweep,
a star that turned black
Or was it a ray of sun?
O the chimneys!
Freedomway for Jeremiah and Job's dust -
Who devised you and laid stone upon stone
The road for refugees of smoke?
O the habitations of death,
Invitingly appointed
For the host who used to be a guest -
O you fingers
Laying the threshold
Like a knife between life and death -
O you chimneys,
O you fingers
And Israel's body as smoke through the air!
Nelly Sachs
Translated by Michael Hamburger