Those in power no longer torture
a palace guard to rob a garden
from abroad for their lusts

no, nowadays money is enough
the magnetic big money
which always finds servants

Look closely at this painting
the colors are darker, and old
is the paint skin, forever

masterful are the brush strokes
yet this matter is only
just an attachment

for the trade in big names
the derivatives of art
with which profit is spoken

My hand, accomplice, writes down
what the winds of time wish to keep
blown into me, drawn out of me
and kneaded

into common words, short
sermons in comprehensible lumps
and every time adding a dash
on the tally stick of man

All the worldly wisdom
in clouds of short-sight between
blinkers and closed doors
against the fear of getting too little

and so many emotions with it
about past, present and future
not to mention the
reproaches and apologies

Things are going very well for more and
more people like me, they are rich enough
and everywhere there is art in the making

No shortage, no subsidy
Professional artists are poor
because they didn't die young

in the sacred fire of their passion
Be silent, there's nothing to complain about
when you are with so many

The dépôts are full, but
we don't miss anything, life is good
for more and more people like me

and who would like to crowd together
in exclusive museums and theaters
if so much is already on hand?

I entered the display case
of people educators
subsidizing snobs
the multirich and companies

among tourists and inhabitants
who want to be seen
in the museum café and
with sophisticated pastry lard
the conversation with careless clauses

they quote from an authority
whom nobody has to understand
to get the intention
of the praised artists

The shop was crowded
Spotlights on show-pieces
fancy coffee table books
and chic presents
for the season and the next holidays

Especially the past
is on sale, postcards
of the attractions
and sights of the city

interchangeable
like the collections
which graduated stylists
cast in international moulds
to magnets for visitors