Muschellied
Ich gab dir keinen Schwur, nur
eine Muschel:
Doch in ihr sprach das Meer und
sprach mein Herz.
Kaum schloß ich meinen Brief, zer-
brach die Muschel…
Und mit dem kleinen Knirschen
brach mein Herz.
Christina Egan © 2012
Atlantic Ocean at Essaouira, Morocco.
Photograph: Christina Egan © 2012
On the Volcano’s Rim
Goldstaub
(Lanzarote)
Hoher blauer Himmel,
weißer Wolkenflug,
ungestüme Winde,
rascher Schattenzug
über rote Halden,
über graue Höhn,
über grüne Matten,
wo schon Sterne stehn:
abertausend Blüten
wie ein Frühlingslied,
Goldstaub, den die Sonne
aus dem Erdreich zieht!
Christina Egan © 2015
—
Gold Dust
(Lanzarote)
Blue sky, ever higher,
white clouds in full flight,
winds wilful and forceful,
swift change of the light
across the red boulders,
across the grey height,
across the green lichen,
where stars tremble bright:
a flourish of flowers
and spring in a splash,
the gold dust the sun
can draw out of the ash!
Christina Egan © 2015
—
Dreaming Dragon
(Lanzarote)
Dew-drops sparkling in all colours
on the mighty coal-black craggy
shoulder of a dreaming dragon:
so these tiny tender flowers
perch on the volcano’s terrace –
fire, earth and wind distilled
to a dainty dotted quilt.
Ceaseless gales and sleepless fire,
ashes fed with salty dew –
ocean and volcano brew
flora’s early, lacy layer,
magic carpet in the air,
in the boundless brown and blue…
Dreams are real. Dreams come true.
Christina Egan © 2015
—
The Hoard
(Lanzarote)
As the mountain bears the flower,
as the giant holds the gem,
so the hour bears my poem:
purple speck on silver stem.
Where a myriad wild flowers
sprout behind the dry-stone wall,
I must gather all my powers
till the heavens hear my call.
Christina Egan © 2015
—
Valentine on the Volcano
(Lanzarote)
We dance on the volcano’s rim –
although its low and sunken side,
although extinct for centuries –
tossed partly by the wild wind’s whim
and partly drunk with liquid life –
suspended over sky-blue seas!
(I found my love above Teguise!)
Christina Egan © 2015
The little volcano. Photograph: Christina Egan © 2015
These lines all sprang from one of the greatest experiences of my life: climbing a little volcano on the isle of Lanzarote, about which you can find a poetic description in German and English at Isle of Bliss / Insel der Seligkeit.
Gold Dust and The Hoard could equally be set in my native Rhön Mountains, also of volcanic origin, but very far inland and much greener.
The three poems in English only may work quite well in an automatic translator. The first two poems are translations of each other, or rather, parallel creations in German and English, where rhythm and rhyme required some changes in wording. It is better to do it this way, since the message is partly conveyed by rhythm and rhyme!
You could leave out the line in brackets to use the poem for a Valentine’s or anniversary card. Copy that line, though, into your list of places to see — both little towns, Teguise and Costa Teguise, because one has got the history and the other one the beach!
This handful of poems almost sums up my work: they describe plants and mountains and the sea; they refer to most basic colours; conclude with thoughts on art and religion and love; and use the beauty of language to capture the beauty of the world.
Buchenland
Schon der Frühherbst
Schüttet Nebel aus
Über die Hügel hin
Haufenweis.
So verschwimmt mir der Pfad
Bevor noch die Buchen brennen
Und die stolzen Wiesen vergehn
Zu lustlosem Staub.
Doch unterm zerklüfteten Fels
Sitzt sommersatt das Moos
Blüht mondhell die Distel
Aufs Geheiß verborgener Geister.
Christina Egan © 2013
—
heimaterde
unter der haut
schimmert sie durch
die rote krume
der ich entwuchs
hinter den augen
blinzelt es vor
das urgestein
schwarz und gewaltig
unter dem haar
wirbeln sie hoch
nebel und wind
die mich umfingen
unter der zunge
schlummert sie noch
die fruchtbare sprache
die mich entfachte
Christina Egan © 2013
—
The first poem describes an autumnal landscape with trees in flaming colours and fog drifting in the dales. The name, Land of Beech Trees, stems from the times when most of Germany was covered by dense forests.
Nature appears as animate, sentient, and even spiritual: the meadow is proud and the moss content, while hidden spirits command a thistle to blossom bright as the moon.
The second poem reminds us that our bodies are made of the world around us — the air and water, the earth and its fruit, the flesh and bone of our ancestors — while our minds are moulded by the language of our parents and ancestors.
The speaker imagines that red soil shines through his or her cheeks and black rock blinks through her pupils, while her hair is softened by thick fog and tousled by rough wind.
These words were inspired by the landscape and climate of the Rhön Mountains in Germany.
Their symbol is a rare wildflower, the silver thistle.
Photograph: „Carlina acaulis 160907“
by Bernd Haynold via Wikimedia Commons
Meine blaue Mauer
Ich tränke die Terrassenwand
mit Mittelmeeresblau,
denn auch im Goldorangenland
regiert zuweilen Grau.
Ich pflanze einen Ölbaumzweig
in einen irdnen Topf,
als säße ich im Römerreich
mit meinem prallen Pfropf. 
Ich krümele den Thymian,
kaum samengroßes Laub:
Sein wilder Duft steigt himmelan –
Mein südlich süßes Kraut!
Ich leg’ ein rotes Scherbenrund
in meine Marmorhand,
als hielte der gemeine Fund
Jahrtausende gebannt…
Auf meiner Gartenmauer schau’
ich Städte bunt erblühn
und wachsen in das satte Blau
und wanken und verglühn.
Ich ritze meinen Namen stolz
dem Putz ein auf Latein;
ich warte aufs Olivenholz
und schlürfe Purpurwein…
Christina Egan © 2014
Photographs: Morocco
Christina Egan © 2012
Photo of Late Roman shard from Egypt used
with kind permission of the British Museum.
Auf den Höhen der Rhön
(Juli-Haiku)
*
Mit blauen Blumen
bestickt, bläht sich das goldne Korn,
ein Tanzgewand.
*
Auf dem Kiefernduft
gleitet der Habicht dahin
hoch über den Höhn.
*
Die Kuppen im Dunst,
ein perlgrauer Scherenschnitt
vorm Silberhimmel.
*
Im kupfernen Laub
ganze Quader von Jade:
bemooste Felsen.
*
Christina Egan © 2003
—
The Rhön Mountains, part of the Central Uplands of Germany, stand out through their wild and austere beauty. – This series of haiku has just been published in the photo calendar Rhönkalender 2016.
English speakers: This text, titled On the heights of the Rhön, works quite well in a translation software. You can also see two wonderful panoramas of the mountains at the link to the calendar and some more on Wikipedia.
Photograph: “Kegelspiel” by N8mahl at the German language Wikipedia.
Midsummernight Far North
(Darss)
This is the edge of the land.
The number of signals is seven:
The shimmering sand,
the green in the sea,
the red in the sky,
the crescent and star,
the bonfire’s glint,
the lighthouse’s fan,
the flashing afar —
The number of wonders is seven.
This is the midsummernight,
this is the height of the light,
this is the hem of the heavens.
We are alive.
We are together.
This is all here.
This is forever.
Christina Egan © 2015
—
The Darß (Darss) is a tranquil strip of land between some lakes and the Baltic Sea.
Around summer solstice, dusk is only between ten and eleven (summertime).
A German poem about dusk on the Darss is ostseeschlaflied (Baltic Sea Lullaby).
Isle of Bliss
(Lanzarote)
The viscous flood of orange fire
gives birth to black and craggy rock;
The earth bereft of path and water
gives birth to wine of luscious stock!
The sweet white drop rolls on my palate,
the pure wild wind plays on my face…
And what was hurt is bound to heal here,
and what was loose falls into place.
Christina Egan © 2015
—
Insel der Seligkeit
(Lanzarote)
Die zähe Flut aus schierem Feuer
gebiert den schroffen schwarzen Stein;
die weg- und wasserlose Erde
gebiert den süßen weißen Wein!
Der wilde Wind kost meine Wangen
und jener Tropfen meinen Mund…
An seinem Ort liegt alles Lose,
und alles Wunde wird gesund.
Christina Egan © 2015
—
Lanzarote is part of the Canary Islands, off the
coast of North-West Africa.
The German and English versions of this song
of praise were created to match each other.
You can find more poems about Lanzarote in
German and English at On the Volcano’s Rim.
ostseeschlaflied
(Darß)
hinaus tritt aus dem hohen wald und schau
wie sand auf see und see auf himmel trifft
wie sich am abend spiegelklares blau
in unverhofftes violett verwischt
wie sich der wellen und der wolken grau
in hundert regenbogenschatten bricht
zurück nun tauche in die dunkle au
die nacht ist nah doch ewig ist das licht
Christina Egan © 2015
—
The Darß (Darss) is a majestic primeval
island at the very edge of Germany.
You can read an English poem about
the Darss at Midsummernight Far North
and more German ones at Schöpfung (Darß).
O Heimatland aus Stein und Licht
O Heimatland aus Stein und Licht,
o Silberstamm und Silberblatt,
o Flammenhimmel, Flammenstrand,
o weiße Mauer, weiße Stadt
und blendendblaue ruhige Bucht!
Mein steiles, karges, klares Land –
o sonnensatte Lebenslust!
Christina Egan © 2015
—
The poem was inspired by this woodcut, “Elba –
Land der Esel” by Ottilie Ehlers-Kollwitz (1955).
For a larger view click here: Galerie Spermann.
Christina Egan 
