A Pedal-Pusher Said to Me
Translated By Robert Archambeau
A pedal-pusher said to me
No braykaiser
No sterfput
A-stepping and a-stoumping cretin-wise
Could drive a man to madness
Just as no thousand Orphas all draped in damp peignoirs
Doing their great kochera
With the prima donna
Of Iquzegdamoda
Of Paczevast
Of Anunec
Each Orpha in an evening gown
Imploring of our pedal-pusher
To go a-step and go a-stoump all over yet again
With a thousand mops
And a thousand sterfputs imploring them
The braykaiser in me
The sterfput in me
The mop in me
The kochera in me
The Paczevast in me
The Anunec in me
The Iquzegdamoda in me
And all the stoumpers
The steppers
The mops
The evening gowns
And all the Orphas
All the pedal-pushers
The damp peignoirs
The cretins
The prima donnas
Who beg
The kocheras
The Iquzegdamodas
The Anunecs
And all the Paczevasts
To step
And to stoump for the sake of love
The great flowering love
Of a thousand pedal-pushers
A-draped in damp peignoirs
Will lead no braykaiser
No sterfput
No mop
No kochera
No Paczevast
No Anunec
No Iquzegdamoda
To implore a man to madness
And that is what a-stepping and a-stoumping cretin-wise
A pedal-pusher said to me
Source: Poetry (April 2009)