Tobias Burghardt

Östwestliche Inschrift

Wenn du das Schwert des Wortes schwingst,

kommt es zum Schwur oder Zwist oder Sang.

Das heißt: sie gehören einander, was auch

geschehe, vergiss nur nicht,

in mein Ohr

flüstert der Wind –

die Baumreihen entlang,

auf Sandtrassen & allerlei Pfaden

linkerseits –

bisweilen zu Fuß

oder ein Pferd.

Abū Tammām

Tobias Burghardt

East-Wester Inscription

When you wield the sword of the word,

it comes to oath or some strife or a song.

That means: they belong together, what-

ever occurs, just don’t forget,

into my ear

the wind whispers –

along the tree rows,

on sand tracks & sundry paths

to the left –

often on foot

or a horse.

Abu Tammām

Tobias Burghardt (Germany)

Born in 1961 in Germany. Poet, essayist and translator of Latin American, Spanish, Catalan, Sephardic and Lusophone poetry, together with his wife, the Argentinian poet and translator Jona Burghardt. They jointly received the KATHAK International Literary Award 2017 at Dhaka, Bangladesh, for their respective poetry and outstanding literary commitment between cultures and languages, and recently the German Publisher Prize 2021 for their independent publishing house EDITION DELTA at Stuttgart, Germany.

Tobias Burghardt published various volumes of poetry in Germany and several other countries. His poems have been translated into numerous languages and published in anthologies, magazines and newspapers. Tobias Burghardt received the International Poetry Award Antonio de Ferraris 2020 at Rome, Italy.