Celan before the Grunewald Passion

Celan before the Grünewald Passion

(Holy Week, 1970)

The limbs

entwined—

gnarled

as oak. The

blood

flowed--red as

a mother’s,

shed for naught

in the labor

camp.

The ribs

strained—

a father’s—

typhus in its

last exhaled

breath. Our

own passion

awaits us—

weeks

from now

in waters

dark as noon,

silent

and unseen

by anyone

except

someone’s downcast

gaze—

tender

and distant

--Jamie Parsley

Paul Celan (1920-1970) was a Romanian-born German-language Jewish poet. After surviving the death camps, Celan became a well-respected poet in post-war Europe. He committed suicide on April 20, 1970, by drowning himself in the Seine in Paris.