C’est la vie

Run, rabbit, run, run, run, from the womb to the tomb,
de cuatro a dos a tres, del río a la mar,
play the fool, suffer school, żunżana ddur iddur,
engage-toi, perds ta foi, le regole imparar,

kul u sum, aħra u bul, chase the moon, meet your doom,
walk on ice, roll your dice, col destino danzar,
métro, boulot, dodo, titla’ x-xemx, terġa’ tqum,
decir siempre mañana y nunca mañanar,

try to fly, touch the sky, hit the stone, break a bone,
sell your soul for a loan to call those bricks your home,
fall in love, rise above, fall apart, stitch your heart,

che sarà? ça ira! plus rien de nous sera,
minn sodda għal sodda niġru tiġrija kontra l-baħħ,
sakemm tinbela’ ruħna mill-ġuf mudlam tal-art

© Antoine Cassar
De: Mużajk. An Exploration in Multilingual Verse
Edizzjoni Skarta, 2008
Producción de Audio: Literaturwerkstatt Berlin 2009

C'est la vie


Run, rabbit, run, run, run, from the womb to the tomb,
from four to two to three, from the river to the sea,
play the fool, suffer school, the wasp goes round and round,
get involved, lose your faith, learn the rules,

eat and fast, shit and piss, chase the moon, meet your doom,
walk on ice, roll your dice, with destiny dance,
metro, work, sleep, the sun rises, you get up again,
to say always tomorrow and never tomorrow reach,

try to fly, touch the sky, hit the stone, break a bone,
sell your soul for a loan to call those bricks your home,
fall in love, rise above, fall apart, stitch your heart,

what will be? it will go well, nothing more of us will be,
from bed to bed we run a race against the void,
until our soul is swallowed by the dark womb of the land.

Translated by Antoine Cassar