Pasárgada, by Manuel Bandeira
Translated by Maria Fontes-Simpkins
I’m leaving for Pasárgada
Where I am the King’s friend
Where I have the woman I desire
In the bed I shall choose
I’m leaving for Pasárgada
I’m leaving for Pasárgada
I’m not blissful here
There, living is an adventure,
And so inconsequential,
That Joanna, the Mad from Spain,
The Queen and a demented fraud,
Turns out to be a distant relative
Of the daughter-in-law I never had
And I shall exercise
Ride a bike
Go wild-donkey riding
Climb the greasy pole
Dip in the blue sea!
And, when I am weary
I shall lie by the river bank
Call out for the Siren
To come and tell me the stories
That in my boyhood
Rosa would come to tell me
I’m leaving for Pasárgada
Pasárgada has everything
It is another civilization
It has a safe way
To prevent conception
It has automatic phones
It has alkaloid galore
It has beautiful harlots
For us to date
And when I am so weary
But so very weary, beyond repair
When the night pushes me
To end my life
- There, I am the King’s friend -
I shall have the woman I desire
In the bed I choose
I’m leaving for Pasárgada