Germany and Me
A Collection of Poems by Joseph Rocchio
With Preface, comments and epilogue written by JR
Preface to the First Edition:
When compiling a list of the greatest German language poets of the 21st century it is very rare to find one
without “Dunkel” at least in the top five. Ingrained into the public consciousness ever since his existential
love ballad “Mein Leben ist ein Paradox”, Dunkel was spewing out various forms of media all throughout
his very eventful career.
And while his film “Mr. Anonymous” (winner of a world record 12 Academy Awards) and his Nobel Prize
winning “Bismarckturm” book series are without a doubt his more well-known works, his poetry
(particularly his German language material) is actually quite well received by critics even to this day.
In order to truly see inside the mind of Rocchio, in order to truly peer into the depths of his words and
understand what he meant, we must look to where he was/what he was doing at the time that he wrote
these pieces.
As in fact, many of his more popular German poems were actually written while in Germany
itself…which, in my humble opinion, can help us form conclusions regarding his connection to Germany
and his experiences that he had while there.
Unfortunately I was only able to pick a limited number of pieces but if you are interested check out some
of Rocchio’s German poetry collections, such as “Der Einzige Weg”, “Keine Hoffnung” or “Meine
Marmalade”.
I hope you enjoy this collection and my (hopefully) insightful thoughts/intros sprinkled throughout,
JR
I.
Before Germany:
Rocchio’s most renowned work from the time before he went to Germany is without a doubt “Das
Lebenspreis”, which was written in the Summer of 2014 during the “German Summer School” at the
University of Rhode Island. Clearly one can see throughout the poem that he still had much work to do
regarding his German language skills and clearly opted for simpler sentences/vocabulary when possible.
“Das Lebenspreis” was written at what some see as one of the “Peaks of Dunkelheit” that Rocchio
reached in his career, and one can just see through the dark tragic mood of the poem that he was a very
disturbed individual.
Das Lebenspreis (Summer 2014)
Wirklich
Du sagst mir
Wirklich
Du sagst
Aber ich kann nicht glauben
Ich habe viel Angst
Wir leben
Wir sterben
Alles ein Kreis
Und jeder bezahlt
Den groß Lebenspreis
Aber du denkst dass
Du eine Lösung hast
Ich glaube das nicht
Du bist ein Phantast
Wir lieben,
Wie leiden
Alles ein Kreis
Und jeder bezahlt
Den groß Lebenspreis
Aber du willst
Dass du für immer lebst
Unmöglich? Wahrscheinlich.
Deine Misstände nie behebst.
Wir lachen,
Wir weinen
Alles ein Kreis
Und jeder bezahlt
Den groß Lebenspreis
Vielleicht musst du fragen
Welches ist schlimmer?
Dein Herz anzuhalten
Oder zu leben für immer
Wir fragen
Wir träumen
Alles ein Kreis
Und jeder bezahlt
Den groß Lebenspreis
II.
Arrival
Evidence suggests that “Der Telegraf” was written during one of Rocchio’s very first days in Germany…it
is speculated that the idea for it was conceived while chilling with some of the other “Wolfbutts” near
the entrance to the Braunschweig Schloss.
“Der Telegraf” seems to be another attempt of Rocchio’s at dealing with his existential angst and trying
to somehow find meaning throughout the madness in this world. One interpretation of the title of the
poem is that the poem itself was a message…a message to whoever is out there willing to listen, willing
to try and comprehend. But these messages mean whatever the “listener” wants them to mean…it
doesn’t matter what the writer/”speaker” intended.
This conflict between intention and interpretation is one visited quite often throughout Rocchio’s works
and was truly a recurring theme throughout his lifetime.
Der Telegraf (Fall 2014)
Es ist alles vorbei,
Die Sonne scheint nicht,
Ich spreche zu niemand mit diesem Gedicht
Meine Wörter meint irgend, was sie wollen
Aber sie sind nicht,
Weil sie nicht sein sollen
Also tschüss meine Glatze
Wir haben nie gesprochen
Ich errinere mich an alles,
Was wurde zerbrochen.“
III.
Settling In
Two poems, with somewhat more grammatical complexity than the earlier ones, were written in late Fall
2014 again dealing with themes of existential angst, finding meaning an d regret for the past. As one can
see, with “Etwas Anderes” Rocchio seemed to be already comfortable enough with written German to
get creative with style/layout and with “Die Frage” he seemed to try and go an almost rhythmic route.
Of course, as many of you probably know, “Die Frage” was made into a top selling song by the brilliant
guitarist and musician Pat Molak. While the song is great, “Die Frage” is also very thought provoking
when read alone without the background music.
Etwas Anderes (Fall 2014)
Ich frage oft Fragen,
Die nicht
Beantwortet
Werden
Können.
Ich denke darüber.
Vielleicht
Ich kann das
Fenster
Öffnen.
Aber
Ich weiß es nicht.
Nicht wie es gehen wird.
Nicht wie es sein soll.
Nicht wie es sein könnte,
Wenn ich etwas anderes gemacht hätte.
Die Frage (Fall 2014)
Erinnerst du dich an die Zeit,
In die du mir gesagt hast?
„Manchmal fühle ich in dieser Welt,
wie ein ungeladener Gast.
Die Nächte sind zu schwarz für mich
Und die Tage sind zu hell.
Hab ich diese Sorgen ganz allein?
Oder sind sie universell?“
Und dann gingst du weiter,
Und hast mir gefragt: „Was ist wirklich ein Mensch?
Ich hatte kein Antwort, das erinner‘ ich
Aber ich fragt darüber was du denkst
„Ein Pest ist was wir sind,“ du sagtest
„Das Leben ein dunkles Licht
Hoffnung gibt es aber es ist so wenig.
Was ist deine Ansicht?“
Schweigen kam dann und du sprachst nicht mehr
Aber ich wollte etwas sagen.
„Ich weiß genau nicht was das Leben ist
Aber es kann man echt erschlagen.
Hoffnung- es gibt
Träume- sie sind
Das Leben- ein dunkles Licht.
Mach was du kannst, und sei wer du bist,
Das ist meine Ansicht!
IV.
Travels
Written quite close to the end of his stay in Germany, “Quer mit mir” is a reference to the much
renowned “Quer durchs Land” ticket offered at Dunkel’s time in Germany by Deutsche Bahn. This ticket
was purchased many times by Rocchio and his friends when searching for the various towers.
Supposedly “Quer mit mir” was a poem written by Joseph to the voice actor/comedian Bryce Holden,
pleading Bryce to come with him on another one of his adventures. It is unknown whether Bryce joined in
or not.
Quer mit mir (Spring 2015)
Machen Sie den quer mit mir
Machen Sie den quer
Ansonsten sind wir ganz allein
Angesichts der Leer’
Hoffnung gibt es nicht fur uns
Es sei denn, find‘ wir Bier
Machen Sie den quer mit mir
Machen Sie den quer
Epilogue:
When peered into and analyzed, Rocchio’s poems while in Germany do paint a pretty vivid picture of the
times he had there as well as give insight to various motivations and philosophies he had at that point in
his life. Many of his poems seem to be dark, tragic or existential in nature, but I believe this to be
somewhat of a misinterpretation of Rocchio’s works. As some think this means that Rocchio was a quite
unpleasant man. While the jury is still out on that one, accounts from people that personally knew him
differ widely from him being a blabbering fool to a vain buffoon to a thoughtful intellectual, and to tell
the truth it seems very difficult to judge the man in that respect.
While many of his poems do seem to show this idea of existential angst and tragedy, all of these poems
must be taken into context of Rocchio’s most significant discovery in Germany: that of the Bismarck
towers. With the lack of existential poetry from Rocchio after Fall 2014, it could be argued that the
Towers were what treated this angst. It was Dunkel himself who, in the Bismarck tower series, compared
his quest to visit all the towers to the very same journey that all of us must take when looking for
meaning in life.
I believe that Rocchio’s year in Germany made him the poet and thinker he always wanted to be. It gave
him the firsthand experience of another culture, taught him the innerworkings of another language, and
pointed him onto the path that he so famously called in his “Bismarckturm” series “der einzige Weg”.
Ohne Deutschland gäbe es kein Dunkel Joe.
JR