Raymond Queneau
Translated by Rachel Galvin
YOUÕVE
GOT TO WAVE AT THE DRIVER
YOUÕVE GOT TO WAVE AT
THE DRIVER
The lady was waiting for the bus
the gentleman was waiting for the bus
a black dog goes by, limping
the lady looks at the dog
the gentleman looks at the dog
and in that very moment the bus passes
At the
end of quai dÕAusterlitz
someone shouts: youÕve lost her, Liszt
at the end of quai de BŽthune
drift the notes of an old bay tune
at the end of the quai called Anjou
a nasty guy will shortchange you
at the end of quai dÕHorloge
youÕll shiver without food or lodge
at the end of quai Arouet-Voltaire
wandering pigeons vault air
at the end of quai de Passy
sing A or B but not past C
at the end of the quai du Point-du-Jour
at the end of decay?
Long long long after the pigeons have
disappeared
you will still see their filth in the streets
just as in my poems
and people will wonder what importance that
had
pigeons what were they
something similar to the aurochs or the
pterodactyl
or coelacanth or dodo bird