Stanisław Sojka - Darmodziej

Last night a man was walking

He strolled a stream of broadways

Last night a man was walking

I saw him pass my doorway

And on a whistle he played a hymn

Like a chime in sacred domes

And the sorrow lied within

That everlasting tone

When I realized that it was him,

I should have known.

I should have known



In my bleak and brittle slumber

I ran out in the streets

In the garbage and the gutters

Audacious rats would feast

And the warm and cozy covers

Veiled motions over dreams

Where lovers and non-lovers

Shook portraits with family themes

And the answers to my question

Were never seen.

Never were seen.



I ran towards that stranger

I grabbed the coat he wore

And in that midnight danger

I sensed the chill he bore

And then he turned around

His eyes a cackling crow

And his scars, they marked a ground

For the wounds that they bestowed

When I realized that it was him

I should have known

I should have known



He was trembling from fear

When I walked along his side

And the whistle he held dear

Was once Hieronymus Bosch's pride

The moon stood above the night

Like silver in the rain

Like my conscience holding tight

Before it hurls down the drain

When I realized, it was my Wastrel

I sensed his pain

I sensed his pain



My Wastrel he was, vagabond

Of destiny and passion

Who wanders through my dreams,

But my days he can not fashion

My Wastrel he was, evil bliss

Tongue of poisoned berries

Who sells from door to door,

Needles and dictionaries



Last night a man was walking

He walked from door to door

Last night a man was walking

Blood was spilt he walks no more

On his whistle I played a hymn

Like a chime in sacred domes

And the sorrow lied within

That everlasting tone

When I realized that I was him,

You should have known

You should have known



Your Wastrel I am, vagabond

Of destiny and passion

Who wanders through your dreams,

But your days he can not fashion

Your Wastrel I am, evil bliss

Tongue of poisoned berries

Who he sells from door to door

Needles and dictionaries



Tłum. Roman Kostovski