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1913issue6online

72 Man and Woman Romance! Sheer Romance! They rush aboard a steamboat But the steamboat sounds the horn and becomes a train; they grab The emergency brake, but it’s a champagne cork; foam Runs through their hands, as if they’re swimming underwater; then up comes The head captain, who says: “I’ve studied the greying cliffs Of fractured high-rises...” Must have swallowed a gramophone. Now he mutters and mumbles. But they aren’t there for long. They rush to kiss, rush and kiss; astounding eyes They have. Romance! Sheer Romance! They run into a huge city, A house stands above a ditch; a radio is blaring in that ditch; And on that radio they announce: “We’ve closed all communica- tions, Coated all central arteries with tar, and into the sewers we’ve poured Rivers of gold!” Gee whiz! So they throw 500 matches into the ditch And run on. They’re met by low-flying birds. Grapevines weave arabesques around them. The world’s deep basso Sings and moans. The earth moves luxuriously; the wind licks at them Like a Londontown kitten. And then they find a tinderbox And a vast treasure trove big as a nut, and spread their Chestnut tree bed, and go to sleep, exhausted from love, Man with woman, Riga boy with Moscow girl. by Sergej Timofejev translated by Kevin M. F. Platt and Julia Bloch

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