Poetry translation for your Friday

Dorothee Sölle, ‘Create in me a new heart’

Create in me a new heart;
The old one listens to habit.
Create new eyes –
the old ones are bewildered by success –
and new ears – my old ears only hear ‘bad luck.’

give me a new love for trees
not tainted by sadness,
a new tongue! – not tied by anxiety
new language not infested with violence
like the one I master too well.

My heart is being suffocated
by the powerlessness
of those who love your foreigner and stranger.

Create in me a new heart –
and: give me a NEW SPIRIT
that I may praise you
without lying,
With tears in my eyes
(it must be)
but without lying.

—

Translated from the German by Max Noak, 2016