Leopards in the Temple
by Franz Kafka | Translated by Monika Zobel
Leopards break into the temple and guzzle the chalices empty; this happens repeatedly; eventually one can predict that it will happen again, and it becomes part of the ceremony.
Translated from the German
Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) was an Austrian-Czech novelist and writer from Prague. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic.
Monika Zobel is the author of An Instrument for Leaving (Slope Editions) and Das Innenfutter der Wörter (edition keiper, Graz, Austria). Her poems have appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Guernica Magazine, Best New Poets 2010, and elsewhere.