DAVID LEHMAN
The Difference Between Pepsi and Coke

Can't swim; uses credit cards and pills to combat
intolerable feelings of inadequacy;
Won't admit his dread of boredom, chief impulse behind
numerous marital infidelities;
Looks fat in jeans, mouths clichés with confidence,
breaks mother's plates in fights;
Buys when the market is too high, and panics during
the inevitable descent;
Still, Pop can always tell the subtle difference
between Pepsi and Coke,
Has defined the darkness of red at dawn,
memorized the splash of poppies along
Deserted railway tracks, and opposed the war in Vietnam
months before the students,
Years before the politicians and press; give him
a minute with a road map
And he will solve the mystery of bloodshot eyes;
transport him to mountaintop
And watch him calculate the heaviness and height
of the local heavens;
Needs no prompting to give money to his kids; speaks
French fluently, and tourist German;
Sings Schubert in the shower; plays pinball in Paris;
knows the new maid steals, and forgives her.

(1977)

from An Alternative to Speech by David Lehman (Princeton University Press, 1986)
DAVID LEHMAN

DAVID LEHMAN

Diferenta dintre Cola si Pepsi

De inotat, nu inoata; dar foloseste carti de credit si ia pastile
ca sa uite ca-i dintr-alta vreme;
Cu nici un chip nu si-ar recunoaste groaza de plictis - de altfel,
mobilul atator escapade;
In blugi arata gras, rosteste clisee degajat,
la nervi mai sparge cate o farfurie;
Cumpara cand bursa creste si intra in panica
atunci cand scade;
Insa, cu toate astea, lui tati nu-i scapa diferenta
dintre Cola si Pepsi,
A descris tenta de roşu inchis a cerului la rasarit,
si-a-ntiparit in minte cum cresc macii pe margini
De cai ferate parasite, si a fost impotriva razboiului din Vietnam
cu luni inaintea studentilor
Si ani inaintea politicienilor sau presei; da-i
o harta si-ntr-o clipa
Gaseste drumul fara sa te doara capul;
du-l in varf de munte
Si urmareste-l cumpanind si apasarea, si inaltimea
vazduhului local;
Copiii, bani de buzunar nu trebuie sa-i ceară; vorbeste
fluent franceza, stie un pic germana;
La dus canta din Schubert; pentru jocuri mecanice merge la Paris;
cand noua menajera fura, se face ca nu vede.

(1977)

Din volumul An Alternative to Speech, de David Lehman (Princeton University Press, 1986)

 

Traducere: Valentina-Monica Barba