I'm gonna make her love me
till the rock ain't stone


Daniel Mendel-Black, #69, 2006

More Poems by Nicanor Parra
-- translated by Miller Williams

I Don't Believe In the Peaceful Way

I don't believe in the violent way
I'd like to believe
in something--but I don't
to believe means to believe in God
all I can do is
shrug my shoulders
forgive me for being blunt
I don't even believe in the Milky Way.

I'm Not a Sentimental Old Man

a baby leaves me absolutely cold
I wouldn't take a baby in my arms
even if the world were caving in
every man scratches his own itch
I can't stand a family get-together
I'd rather be stuck in the eye with a sharp stick
than play with my nephews
my grandchildren don't move me very much either
what I mean is they set my nerves on edge
the second they see me come back from the coast
they come running at me with open arms
as if I were Santa Claus
little sons of bitches!
who the hell do they imagine I am


These Idyllic Lovers

could be two ants
two eyes in the same face
two nostrils in the same nose

these motherfucking lovers
could be the sea the way they go up and down
could be the sun if those were sun spots.


Somebody Behind Me

reads every word I write
looking over my left shoulder
he laughs at my problems with no shame
a man with a swagger stick and tails

I look but there's nobody
still I know someone is watching me


Telegrams

I
Enough of this foolishness
Nothing is swept under the rug here.

God made the world in a week
I destroy it in a moment.

II
Enough of your naked women!
Enough Egyptian priest
Spitting all over the place
I kneel down and kiss the earth
With a hamburger in my mouth.

I'm neither leftist or rightist
I just break the molds.

III
What the hell am i writing for?
I write to make you love and respect me
To satisfy God and the devil
To record everything.

To cry and laugh at the same time
Verily verily
I don't know what the hell I'm writing for.
I guess I do it out of envy.