If I Were an Animal

      (for Christy)

I'm not really an animal.
But what if I were one?
Would these bright flames
Of passion consume you
Until you can't
Control it any longer?
"I'm yours," you'd tell me.
"Take me, tiger!"
And I'd take you, darling,
Right here, right now,
In a complete abandon,
In a spontaneous outburst
Of my ardent song--
Drunk with these stars
And this moon,
Drunk with this night
That envelops us,
Drunk with the thoughts
Of you, my darling,
As I imagine you and me
In a sweet embrace
Of tender passion...
And yet we manage to control it
Somehow,
For tomorrow is yet another day
To sober up and smell the coffee,
And I'm tired once again
Of trying to start something,
Always trying to start something--
Perhaps a riot--
Out of seemingly nothing at all.
O my love! O my alluring, starry woman!
For, after all, it is this song
That makes us both alive.
And what is life
But just an empty chase
After this and that--
An endless shopping spree
In a supermarket of desire?

No, I'm not an animal.
But if I were one,
I'd probably be one
Silly cat, rubbing my fur
Against your legs,
Purring at your grace
And elegance.
O darling! In the moonlight
I dream your innermost
Mysteries,
I inhale the aroma
Of your delicate perfume,
Savoring each kiss
And each caress,
I whisper like the wind
These verses in your hair,
Walking these lonely streets
That always lead me
Straight to your heart.
For I was never rational
About these things,
Always knew that I would
Crack up one day
And release these childish poems
For all to see
In this world of experts
Who know diddly-squat about love:

Men are from Mars,
Women are from Venus,
They size you up by your paycheck,
Not the size of your penis.

But I reckon that this bit of wisdom
Will get me nowhere--
No place where I want to be--
And it only serves to remind me
How empty life really is
Without illusions, without poetry,
And without you, darling--
Without you.
 
                                           April 20, 1999
                                --Alexander Shaumyan