Scheisse No. 16

painting by pablo picasso

SCHEISSE [SHIT] NO. 16

my eye is a mouth
my eyelids are the mouth’s lips
my lashes are the mouth’s teeth
my eyeball is the mouth’s tongue
my cornea is the mouth’s tongue’s tip
my pupil is the mouth’s kiss
my socket is the mouth’s gums
my iris is the mouth’s maw
my brain is the mouth’s gut
my vision is the mouth’s digestion
my life is the mouth’s shit

my shit is the eye’s life
my digestion is the eye’s vision
my gut is the eye’s brain
my maw is the eye’s iris
my gums are the eye’s socket
my kiss is the eye’s pupil
my tongue’s tip is the eye’s cornea
my tongue is the eye’s ball
my teeth are the eye’s lashes
my lips are the eye’s lids
my mouth is an eye

Dieter Rot

Translated from the German by Jerome Rothenberg

Posted over on Poems and Poetics