Versions of a poem by Hesse

Night/night

scuttling

with nerves

Beside myself

you invite

the wind

into your hair

_____

That's me, prowling

and chuntering

I don't even know

what I get out of this

I wouldn't have recognised you

those pretty pink knees

beneath your dancers’ skirt

your tongue

circus lizard red

_____

At night

I take to the streets

In the grip

of

invisible

scratches

I have really taken to them

Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) was a German-born Swiss writer. The poem that these versions take inspiration from is Ich weiss, du gehst –, which translates literally as ‘I know, you walk’, – from the collection Poems. Hesse is best known for his novels, including Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.

Dr Adam Polnay lives in Edinburgh. He has written several collections of poems, some short stories, and a short play. He is a specialty trainee in psychotherapy.

The poem was first published in the Cambridge Literary Review.