Marie

    You danced there a little girl
    Will you dance there a grandmother
    It’s the hop skip of the jig
    All the bells will ring
    But when will you come back Marie

    The mummers are silent
    The music so far off
    It seems to come from the sky
Yes I’d love you but love you only a little
    My affliction’s delicious

    The sheep move off through the snow
    Woolen flocks & silver flakes
    Soldiers marching if only I had
    A heart of my own a changing heart
    Changing but then what do I know

    Do I know where your hair will be
    Curls unruly as ocean whitecaps
    Do I know where your hair will be
    And your hands the autumn leaves
    That scatter like our vows

    I used to walk by the Seine
    An ancient book under my arm
    The river’s the same as my pain
    It flows & never runs dry
    When will the week ever end

Apollinaire
translation © Jack Hayes 2010