{"id":7058,"date":"2014-08-07T18:45:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T18:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2014-08-07T18:45:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-07T18:45:26","slug":"guest-post-alfred-lichtenstein-summer-freshness-and-prayer-before-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/2014\/08\/guest-post-alfred-lichtenstein-summer-freshness-and-prayer-before-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Alfred Lichtenstein “Summer Freshness” and “Prayer before Battle”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer Freshness<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sky is like a blue jellyfish.
\nAnd all around are fields, rolling meadows –
\nPeaceful world, you great mousetrap,
\nWould that I might finally escape from you..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0O if I had wings –
\nOne plays dice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Guzzles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chatters about future countries.
\nEach person puts in his own two cents.
\nThe earth is a succulent Sunday roast,
\nNicely dunked into a sweet sun-sauce.
\nIf only there were a wind… that ripped
\nThe gentle world with iron claws.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That would amuse me.
\nBut if a storm comes…\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It would shred
\nThe lovely blue eternal sky into a thousand pieces.<\/p>\n

Alfred Lichtenstein<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prayer before Battle <\/strong><\/p>\n

The troops sing with fervour, every man for himself:<\/p>\n

O God, save me from rotten luck.<\/p>\n

O Father, Son and Holy Spirit, please<\/p>\n

Don’t let any shells hit me,<\/p>\n

Or our enemies, those bastards,<\/p>\n

Take me prisoner or shoot me.<\/p>\n

Let me not kick the bucket like a dog<\/p>\n

For my dear country.<\/p>\n

Look, I’d really like to go on living,<\/p>\n

Milking cows, having sex with girls<\/p>\n

Beating up that low-life, Sepp,<\/p>\n

Getting pissed a lot more times<\/p>\n

Before I meet my blessed end.<\/p>\n

Look, I’ll say my prayers well and willingly,<\/p>\n

I’ll say the rosary seven times a day<\/p>\n

If you, O God, in your mercy<\/p>\n

Make my friend Huber, or maybe Meier,<\/p>\n

Die, and let me live.<\/p>\n

But if I’ve got to take it,<\/p>\n

Don’t let me be badly wounded.<\/p>\n

Send me a minor leg wound<\/p>\n

A little injury to an arm,<\/p>\n

So I can come back home a hero<\/p>\n

And with a story to tell.<\/p>\n

Alfred Lichtenstein<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alfred Lichtenstein <\/strong>was a German expressionist poet. He was born August 23, 1889, in Berlin and died September 25, 1914, near Somme, France.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer Freshness The sky is like a blue jellyfish. And all around are fields, rolling meadows – Peaceful world, you great mousetrap, Would that I might finally escape from you..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0O if I had wings – One plays dice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Guzzles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chatters about future countries. Each person puts in his own two cents. The earth is a succulent Sunday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2235,2233,12,2234,7,16,2230,2229,32,2227],"class_list":{"0":"post-7058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-guest-posts","7":"tag-100-year-anniversary-of-world-war-i","8":"tag-alfred-lichtenstein","9":"tag-ellen-wade-beals","10":"tag-german-poet","11":"tag-solace","12":"tag-solace-in-so-many-words","13":"tag-summer-poem","14":"tag-war-poem","15":"tag-weighed-words","16":"tag-world-war-i","17":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7058"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7069,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7058\/revisions\/7069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}