I will no longer praise another lady
nor caress her name in any form of verse
not since I saw you there the first time
in that strange and unseen city's universe

I remember the night was faded like gouache
and in the gates of houses crouching fear
when suddenly in the crowd I caught your face
and then I understood the time is here

the jittering street was winding like a snake
the colored flecks of windows flicked like breeze
the flesh of wind was sweeter than your lips
on which I saw a cross-shaped welt was squeezed

and suddenly the swollen aching bruise of crowd
that like an inflamed tooth tilled through the hum
and someone raised a pair of giant hands
and beat into the sun sheet metal drum

and then stained naked cobblestones
and handfuls of pale scuttling crowds -
I only saw the corners of your scarf
your sailor's collar that was blue like clouds

I don't know if I'll hear of you again
or if you'll just fade into a dream space
but I know I'll carry you inside me always
and search for you in every passing face

I dream of ocean water's bitter taste
where the tide licks barges' barks at ports
a constant flutter of flags beneath my skull
the heart inside my chest jumps and contorts

and I know it'll happen during one thick dusk
walking through the crowd I'll flicker like a light
and then my scream will spill over the edge
and shake the city walls with all its might

I'll run and smash the wall against my head
and then my raspy bass will change to alto
underneath there'll be a sidewalk of white clouds
beneath the tips of the sky there'll be hard asphalt

and then, just then - I'll feel the brush of robes
I know your hands' scent through any texture's raise
you'll kneel down and wipe the blood from my face -
my darling slender Marseillaise!