MY ROMANY


          Then I'd take off, fists in the holes of my pockets,
          My peajacket also had a mystical look.
          Vagabond under the skies, Muse, devoted to you
          Alone — Oh boy, what splendid lovers I dreamed of!

          My only pair of pants had a hole in the seat.
          A dreamy stripling, as I tramped my willful ways
          I tossed my rhymes to the winds, my one inn the Great
          Bear, whose stars in my heavens made gentle rustlings.

          And hunkered down at the roadside, I'd hark at them
          On sweet September evenings, as I'd feel the drops
          Of dew sprinkling my forehead, like robust new wines;

          Or amid fantastic shadows running through my rhythms
          I would haul on the laces, like strings of a lyre,
          On my busted boots, one foot heaved up to my heart!


          ARTHUR RIMBAUD
          © Translated by James Kirkup, 2008




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