Hommage an Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Dragking,

du treisch

es Tee-Ei

aus Bling-Bling

um e Haus

u goudigi Rüebli

uf em Gring.

I weiss nümm,

wenn mir üs

ds erschte Mau

begägnet si

and where?

Im Cabaret

Voltaire?

Ou à Paris,

ir e Galerie?

Maybe in Manhattan,

in the DADA-circus?

Schreegs Birdie,

I met you

on purpose,

Elsa Plötz,

us Swinemünde

born in

 

1874

That year

cha dr Karl May

us em Zucht-

huus wider hei.

Gsässe isch är

wäge Land-

striicherei.

 

1886

 Dr King

Ludwig II.

versuuft im

Starnberger See

(Suicide?

Murder?)

You have

green piercing

eyes, es

bleichs Dekolleté.

Bisch zwöufi,

smart u lazy.

You smoke

your first

cigarette

and write

your first

limerick.

Daddy is hot-

tempered,

 

Mami mad

and sick.

 

1890

Bisch sixteen

u schön,

öppedie

es Mü

z obszön.

Geisch a d

art-academy.

You cut

your hair,

you wear a

bordeauxrote

underskirt.

Daheim säge si

du sigsch

chli gstört,

en Affront

to every

Oschtseebad!

 

1893

Uf em

Potsdamer Platz

wird during

dr Gründig

vom Dütsche

Froueverein BDF

di erschti Chatz

überfahre

vom ene KFZ.

By now bisch

nineteen.

You flee,

poor as

poor can be,

i d Revue

uf das Berlin.

You are in

«Ariadne

on the Panther»,

a naked

tableau vivant

im Varieté

Wintergarten.

Winter is cold

in the capital,

and coats

are costly.

 

 

 

 

 

1896

Another year

of suffering.

Di het

d Syphilis.

Good old

Europe het

once more

a war.

You change

husbands,

cities

and skills

as I change

mini Jeans,

which means

you are

ready for

big apple,

ready for

big Uftritt.  

In Europe

kings are

uf em last

big Usritt.

 

1913

 Manhattan’s

canyons are

your stage.

Wouchechratzer

shrouded in

in smoke.

Smokewouche

chratze

i dr Lunge.

Coke chläbt

uf dr loose Zunge.

Neon signs

on Times Square.

That’s auwäg where

I first met you.

I remember

saying «hello».

You were so

keen on art

and Radou.

I remember

your glamorous

body-show,

ou ou ou.

Elsa, du bisch

öppis between

a machine (non-

Picabian) and a

bohemian bijou.

You walk down

5th Avenue,

as usual muff,

rasiert mit

zinnoberrot-

laggiertem

Schädu.

U obedruff

e bullet-proof

Cholechessu

(Typ: Roman–

Imperator–

style), while

you’re leading

5 frightened

dogs on a leash.

Your lusting lips

deklamiere

Shakespeare

(in German).

Zwo abgstämpleti

stamps ziere

dini Backe

(2 American

cent, pink).

I säge: «Else,

you look like

a Westwood-Punk.»

People call you

«citizen of terror»,

«e Fau für e shrink».

But you just make

Kunscht out of

Trottoir-junk.

Everything lies

in the Rinnstei

for your Recycling-

Assemblage.

Itze,

immer no

 

1913

Immer no

vor em

grosse Wäut-

läbwohl.

Du bisch

uf em Wäg

zur City Hall,

on your

wedding-day,

arm in arm

mit dim

verarmte,

gambling-

addicted

Westphalian

Prinzgemahl.

Fingsch

an iron ring

on Broadway.

You call it

Enduring

Ornament.

Elsa von

Freytag-

Loringhoven,

you are

the truest

baroness

I know.

Du treisch)

ds «Von» zwüsche

de Bei

u Tomate-

purée-Dösli

on your

nipples.

You made

your first

ready-mades

before

your mate

Duchamp

made one.

Marcel, Marcel,

you loved him

like hell.

 

1917

D Höu for real

isch am

10. April

es Ziu

vom ene Gschütz,

irgendwo

bi Arras.

People called

Duchamp

«e Payass!»,

when he

a däm day

wanted to show

im grosse

New Yorker

Central Palace

aus R.[Ar]Mutt  

e «Fountain».

«Skandal!»,

people said.

Tell me, Elsi,

isch das Urinal

am Änd uf dim

enlightened Mischt

gwachse?

I know, you shit

on sacrosanct art

but baroness,

you need money

gopfertammi

to survive.

Darling, dänk

a dini füechti

Wonig.

 

1918

Däne ändlech

Fride.

Di Chrieg,

Elsa,

isch blibe.

You act,

 

you paint,

you sculpt,

you attack.

You write

your poetry

on Zelluloid

oder i dr

«Little Review»

(Achtung,

Avantgarde-

tabloid!).

Am James si

«Ulysses» is

printed näbe

dine Gedicht,

but everyone

just talks

about you,

because your

body-related-

gender-subverting

language isch

not only bilingual

(dütsch-änglischi

mistake-machine),

but funny

and fucking

radikal swinging.

Dini Zile si wi

carved in stone

in a boxi-Bauhaus-

EgYptian-StYlE.

You love

Gedanke – – –

striche

on the right side.

And your shifts

are abghackt,

ruckig like

a subway-ride.

Geng jagsch

dr Schönheit

hingernache.

Ke Futurischtin

but the future,

le dernier cri

but unfortunately

a little jähzornig.

Maybe that’s why

you were not invited

to the Vanity Fair

dinner parties

like Dorli Parker

and Man Ray.

Or maybe, honey,

it’s because

there is no

moneymoneymoney

in what you do.

In the arty

man’s world

they call you

«unersättlech»,

and «e Närvesaagi».

D Wäut wärd

frei, säge si,

as well.

 

1923

Daheim

first Hitler-Putsch.

D future scho

wider futsch.

Elsa, Ezra

 

calls you

Kassandra

in one of his

Cantos.

NY drops

and forgets you.

What a waste.

Was that

why you got

homesick,

my brave

and angry

baroness?

Zmitts i de

Goudige Zwänzger

verchoufsch

Christmas magazines

on Ku’damm.

Winter is cold

in the capital,

and coats

are still costly.

You have

no heating and

no pension.

All your humour

and Schwung

schlaat i

Verzwiflig um.

D Avantgarde

güügelet now

à Paris.

You follow

your famous friends

zum letschte Mau.

Were you drunken

with sleep

or did you want to

come to harm,

when you died

im 13ième

with your

Lieblingsdog

im Arm?

 

2016

Again, a party

at the Cabaret

Voltaire.

100 Jahr

sithär.

Elsa, dis

dusty perfume

lies schwär

on your verses.

You made

no compromise

with the

public taste.

Performance-

pioneer, I love

all your names,

for you taught

me to love

all my blame.

Forimmer

and ewig

DADA-Queen.

Aus: Ariane von Graffenried, Babylon Park, edition spoken script, Der gesunde Menschenversand 2017.