A tyrant’s proclamations (in whatever era)
Are merely words

Someone else must translate them into a manhunt
Someone with a knack
Someone who likes his work

Someone adept at getting the right people
To the right place at the right time
To pound on the door with a crowbar or a fist

Someone who draws up the timetables for raids
As if they were crosswords in the Sunday paper

Someone who doesn’t bother with whatever’s coming next
it’s no longer his affair
He’s not responsible
Hell’s humble servant
An exemplary employee an adroit technician

Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh