PARIS-AM-SEINE
223
-Mister ticket-seller
I should like to know whether in Paris-sur-Seine autumn spins its
wool
In
the trees of my childhood
Whether the old mansions still speak of the depths to which mount
My
nobility my glory
-Shut up-1 have a son–
You'll get me fired-he's ten-
Look-after supper-just the other day-·
-Mister ticket-seller
I
should like to know
-You should like to know well then take the train to
A
Otange at
B
sleep at
C
get off at
D
and there
Your eyes open and your cash in hand
Search out quietly
Discreetly
The nameless gondelier
The ferryman
The rower
The middleman
The one who knows the boundary
The zone
The interzone
The one who knows the Styx my friend as the fleabitten
His fleas
-So I take the train to A
-Take the train to A take it to Z
To any one of the thirty-two points of the compass
God
is everywhere and all roads
lad to Germany
(Translated by Dwight Macdonald)
