And the exchange ofpleasantries, which now ensues,
immediately results in a harmlessness
where the nonsense finally becomes unendurable
-because suddenly you believe you are exaggerating,
and feel in the wrong toward others
and regard your state as just one of those states:
as ifyou behaved' 'like a schoolboy, ' ,
not to be taken seriously .
So you don't take yourself seriously
in
company
but the nonsense is too real,
and therefore unbearable ,
The face turns ugly with nonsense,
So you sit somewhere
and let it become night .
Now and then you mutely tear your mouth open
as if you had lockjaw.
A housewall is peeling.
A children's carousel is turning under a railroad bridge.
"Actually" the housewall is beautiful,
and' 'actually" the carousel is beautiful-
but even the prettiest sight now diminishes life.
A bombing attack of nonsense on the world :
right behind the housewall the earth breaks off into whirlpools of
the undefinable
(some call it ocean trench, others space, others hell)
and on the last atoll a children 's carousel turns
tinkling, godforlorn.
Stop! Gaze at this picture:
Did not the lids lower over the eyes at its sight?
-It is no picture: and ifso, it went under from your impatience
with the last bit of earth.
The gloom where the earth was
distinguishes itselffrom the gloom
of the undefinable all around
only by its fresher black,
and now even the whirlpools are streaming in .
Someone's jaw slackens
and he falls asleep,
