Ave Maria

Mothers of America
...............................let your kids go to the movies
get them out of the house so they won't know what you're up to
it's true that fresh air is good for the body
...............................................................but what about the soul
that grows in darkness, embossed by silvery images
and when you grow old as grow old you must
................................................................they won't hate you
they won't criticize you they won't know
...............................................................they'll be in some glamorous
country they first saw on a Saturday afternoon or playing hookey

they may even be grateful to you
..................................................for their first sexual experience
which only cost you a quarter
..................................................and didn't upset the peaceful home
they will know where candy bars come from
...................................................and gratuitous bags of popcorn
as gratuitous as leaving the movie before it's over
with a pleasant stranger whose apartment is in the
....................................................Heaven on Earth Bldg
near the Williamsburg Bridge
....................................................oh mothers you will have made the little tykes
so happy because if nobody does pick them up in the movies
they won't know the difference
....................................................and if somebody does it'll be sheer gravy
and they'll have been truly entertained either way
instead of hanging around the yard
............................................or up in their room
.........................................................................hating you
prematurely since you won't have done anything horribly mean yet
except keeping them from life's darker joys
.............................................it's unforgivable the latter
so don't blame me if you won't take this advice
..............................................and the family breaks up
and your children grow old and blind in front of a TV set
.......................................................................................seeing
movies you wouldn't let them see when they were young

1960

Frank O'Hara, Vinte e Cinco Poemas à Hora do Almoço, José Alberto Oliveira (trad.), Assírio & Alvim, 1995. 

Tradução aqui.

A step away from them

It's my lunch hour, so I go
for a walk among the hum-colored
cabs. First, down the sidewalk
where laborers feed their dirty
glistening torsos sandwiches
and Coca-Cola, with yellow helmets
on. They protect them from falling
bricks, I guess. Then onto the
avenue where skirts are flipping
above heels and blow up over
grates. The sun is hot, but the
cabs stir up the air. I look
at bargains in wristwatches. There
are cats playing in sawdust.

...........................................On
to Times Square, where the sign
blows smoke over my head, and higher
the waterfall pours lightly. A
Negro stands in a doorway with a
toothpick, languorously agitating
A blonde chorus girl clicks: he
smiles and rubs his chin. Everything
suddenly honks: it is 12:40 of
a Thursday.

Neon in daylight is a
great pleasure, as Edwin Denby would
write, as are light bulbs in daylight.
I stop for a cheeseburger at JULIET'S
CORNER. Giulietta Maina, wife of
Federico Fellini, é bell' attrice.
And chocolate malted. A lady in
foxes on such a day puts her poodle
in a cab.

There are several Puerto
Ricans on the avenue today, which
makes it beautiful and warm. First
Bunny died, then John Latouche,
then Jackson Pollock. But is the
earth as full of life was full, of them?
And one has eaten and one walks,
past the magazines with nudes
and the posters for BULLFIGHT and
the Manhatten Storage Warehouse,
which they'll soon tear down. I
used to think they had the Armory
Show there.

A glass of papaya juice
and back to work. My heart is in my
pocket, it is Poems by Pierre Reverdy.

Frank O'Hara, Vinte e Cinco Poemas à Hora do Almoço, José Alberto Oliveira (trad.), Assírio & Alvim, 1995.

Ontem lá em baixo no canal

Dizes que tudo é muito simples e interessante
isso torna-me muito melancólico, como se lesse um grande romance Russo
estou tão aborrecido
é quase como ver um mau filme
se não for, mais frequentemente, como ter uma doença aguda no rim
valha-nos deus que não é nada no coração
nada relacionado com gente mais interessante do que eu
yak yak
que pensamento divertido
como pode alguém ser mais divertido do que o próprio
como pode alguém não ser
podes emprestar-me o teu quarenta e cinco
só preciso de uma bala de preferência de prata
se não se pode ser interessante pelo menos que se seja uma lenda
(mas odeio essa trampa toda)

Frank O'Hara, Vinte e Cinco Poemas à Hora do Almoço, José Alberto Oliveira (trad.), Assírio & Alvim, 1995.