1 When the crow passed Over the head of Death, it said: “I am the crow!” “So what?” Death said. “I am the black crow!” the crow said. So Death laughed and said: “For me you are whiter than ice!” 2 Yesterday I remembered you You have no name nor address. You whom I forgot before The beginning of the flood. So I danced without arms and feet. 3 When they removed my naked body to you. People laughed at the whiteness of my heart And at the blackness of my corpse. 4 Music of pain is unforgettable And lies of love are as true as The kiss of a teenager. 5 Why does time haunt you? Is it because you have breasts of pomegranate, And a belly of ivory, And eyes narrow as a southern boat, And a fate that looks like the crow’s? 6 Music played our fate; There were not so many colours. There was black as blood And there was white as blood too. 7 I return to poetry As usual Because of you. I return to see Time Beating my letters with his great whip. I return to see my biggest dot That looks like a big city Losing in the sea. 8 Your kisses did not reach. Maybe because the postman Was jealous of me. Maybe because your language Was white as the crow. 9 Your kisses did not reach Though your neck was warm. Yes, you were in your nineteenth summer. 10 You were full of music, Moony as a summer night, Obedient as a jewel that lights in the dark, Silly as a parrot that lisps, Foolish as a mad man’s laugh. 11 You who taught me to dance: Dance over the corpses of letters And over the remains of burnt clocks. 12 You are my crow. This is what I had to say At the beginning of the poem To relieve others and relieve myself.