I'd tear
I'd tear like a wolf
I'd tear like a wolf at bureaucracy.
For mandates
For mandates my respect's but the slightest.
To the devil himself
To the devil himself I'd chuck without mercy
every red-taped paper.
every red-taped paper. But this ...
Down the long front
Down the long front of coupés and cabins
File the officials
File the officials politely.
They gather up passports
They gather up passports and I give in
My own vermilion booklet.
For one kind of passport -
smiling lips part
For others -
For others - an attitude scornful.
They take
They take with respect, for instance,
They take with respect, for instance, the passport
From a sleeping-car
English Lionel.
The good fellows eyes
The good fellows eyes almost slip like pips
when,
when, bowing as low as men can,
they take,
they take, as if they were taking a tip,
the passport
the passport from an American.
At the Polish,
At the Polish, they dolefully blink and wheeze
in dumb
in dumb police elephantism -
where are they from,
where are they from, and what are these
geographical novelties?
And without a turn
And without a turn of their cabbage heads,
their feelings
their feelings hidden in lower regions,
they take without blinking,
they take without blinking, the passports from Swedes
and various
and various old Norwegians.
Then sudden
Then sudden as if their mouths were
Then sudden as if their mouths were aquake
those gentlemen almost
those gentlemen almost whine
Those very official gentlemen
Those very official gentlemen take
that red-skinned passport
that red-skinned passport of mine.
Take-
Take- like a bomb
Take- like a bomb take - like a hedgehog,
like a razor
like a razor double-edge stropped,
take -
take - like a rattlesnake huge and long
with at least
with at least 20 fangs
with at least 20 fangs poison-tipped.
The porter's eyes
The porter's eyes give a significant flick
(I'll carry your baggage
(I'll carry your baggage for nix,
(I'll carry your baggage for nix, mon ami...)
The gendarmes enquiringly
The gendarmes enquiringly look at the tec,
the tec, -
the tec, - at the gendarmerie.
With what delight
With what delight that gendarme caste
would have me
would have me strung-up and whipped raw
because I hold
because I hold in my hands
because I hold in my hands hammered-fast
sickle-clasped
sickle-clasped my red Soviet passport.
I'd tear
I'd tear like a wolf
I'd tear like a wolf at bureaucracy.
For mandates
For mandates my respect's but the slightest.
To the devil himself
To the devil himself I'd chuck
To the devil himself I'd chuck without mercy
every red-taped paper,
every red-taped paper, But this ...
I pull out
I pull out of my wide trouser-pockets
duplicate
of a priceless cargo.
of a priceless cargo. You now:
read this
read this and envy,
read this and envy, I'm a citizen
of the Soviet Socialist Union!