Da jeg vågnede, sad låget på sin plads
på den store, sorte gryde
og af kannibalerne
var der kun et ekko
af deres eksotiske navne tilbage.

Bogmærket stak ud af bogen på natbordet
på det helt rigtige sted
og da jeg stak fødderne ud af sengen
så jeg, at mine snørebånd
sad korrekt i skoene.
Og sokkerne lå lige ved siden af.

Der var ingen krokodille under sengen
og edderkoppen
der havde siddet på lur bag døren
var gået sin vej.

Mit hoved og mine arme
var ikke anbragt
i hver deres
sorte plasticpose.
De sad rigtig godt fast til kroppen.

Jeg kunne bevæge mig uden at bløde.
Jeg havde ikke engang
ondt i maven.

På køkkenbordet stod der en kaffemaskine
en almindelig kaffemaskine
i formiddagslyset, som sivede ind
gennem de blomstrede gardiner.

De trængte til at blive vasket.
Det så ud
til at være midt i april.

Da vandet kogte
lød huset så tomt.

Alle dem, jeg havde elsket

var forlængst døde.

When I woke, the lid sat in its place
on the big black kettle
and as for the cannibals
only an echo
of their exotic names remained.

The bookmark stuck out of the book on the nightstand
in exactly the right place
and when I put my feet out of the bed
I saw that the laces
were correctly in my shoes.
And my socks lay right beside them.

There was no crocodile under the bed
and the spider
that sat in waiting behind the door
had gone its way.

My head and my arms
were not placed
each in a separate plastic bag.
They were firmly attached to my body.

I could move myself without bleeding.
I didn’t even have
a stomach ache.

On the kitchen counter there was a coffee maker
a normal coffee maker
in morning light that seeped
in between the flowered curtains.

They needed to be washed
It looked
to be the middle of April.

While the water boiled
the house sounded so empty.

All the ones I had loved

were long dead.