Maieutikos

A POEM BY MARIO DE ANDRADE

I am ten thousand million guys

By Mario de Andrade
Tanslation: Tony Marmo

I have ten thousand, I have ten thousand million personalities,
My feelings give re-birth to themselves incessantly;
O mirrors, O Pyrenees, O rednecks,
Should a god die, I shall buy another in a convenience store.

The best words I hug in my bed,
And my sighs are other guys’ violins;
And I walk on the land just like the man who secretly finds his own kisses in the corners, taxis and hotel rooms;

O yeah, I am so many, I am so many guys,
But one day I shall happen onto myself,
Be patient, short minded swallows,
For only the oblivion will provide an explanation,
And only then my soul will work as an abode.

posted by Tony Marmo @ 3:07:00 AM