Why Paul Celan Cannot Be Called a Nihilist

He knew that calling
Things by their proper

Name names nothing
If the caller is a void.

Insomniac

The poem that will not let you sleep
Until it is written, that is the dream

You must keep awake.

Affirmation

Looking in

And seeing the two gray-
Headed brothers in

Animated conversation
From outside the coffeehouse,

One can only imagine
What they are saying,

But their smiles tell us
They are alive within,

The one thing we want
To hear.

Railroaded

On the way to Hallelujah Junction,
He found his carriage shunted

To a long line of rotting boxcars
On a short stretch

Of godforsaken track.

The Long and Short of It et al

This is how

yours truly whiles time

a way in-
between more

pressing
chores

which
matter
more?