About This Title
Following The Fuehrer Bunker: A Cycle in Progress, BOA's first-ever published book (now out-of-print), these dramatic monologues acknowledge the end of the horrible psycho-drama that was Hitler's Reich. The Fuehrer Bunker: The Complete Cycle shows much of the paranoia, self-indulgence, and rage that had consumed the members of the German High Command. All of the poems reflect Snodgrass' own psychological, historical, and moral imagination.
Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Former Minister for Propaganda
1 May, 1945.
(Russian troops are within yards of the bunker. After a brief leavetaking, Goebbels and Magda climb to the garden to commit suicide)
Say goodbye to the help, the ranks
Of Stalin-bait. Give too much thanks
to Naumann-- Magda's lover: we
Thank him for all his loyalty.
Schwaegermann; Rach. After a while
Turn back to them with a sad smile:
We'll save them trouble-- no one cares
Just now to carry us upstairs
Turn away; check your manicure;
Pull on your gloves. Take time; make sure
The hat brim curves though the hat's straight.
Give her your arm. Let the fools wait;
They act like they've someplace to go.
Take the stairs, now. Self-control. Slow.
A slight limp; just enough to see,
Pass on, and infect history.
The rest is silence. Left like sperm
In a stranger's gut, waiting its term,
Each thought, each step lies; the roots spread.
They'll believe in us when we're dead.
When we took "Red Berlin" we found
We always worked best underground.
So; the vile body turns to spirit
That speaks soundlessly. They'll hear it.
