Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine
AN AUTUMN IN TANGIER (ANTINOUS NOSTALGIA)
Him under the rain
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who pursues
His coming apart puzzle
Him in his night
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who destroys
His unfinished shadow
We were coming from the sun
Like seagulls
With eyes made up with sky
And the tail in the wind
But we lost ourselves
Under the earthmen's yoke
Into those joints and streets
Reserved for penguins
Him under the rain
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who pursues
His coming apart puzzle
Waves were dying wounded
By the moonless tide
Coming out to fertilize
The lagoon's womb
And our scratched bodies
Were immolating themselves laughing
Under the frozen spindrift
Of an ocean bedroom
Him in the night
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who destroys
His unfinished shadow
From exhilaration to arrogance
I stay and I survive
Maybe by elegance
Perhaps by courtesy
But I should hide myself
And talk to nobody
And not see anymore
The indigenous mirrors
Him under the rain
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who follows
His coming apart puzzle
Him in his night
Of an autumn in Tangier
Him who destroys
His unfinished shadow