OCTOBER LAMENTATION

I did not know that the blue of tomorrow
is a vague specter of the haze of yesterday;
that shaken by gusts of centuries
the heart longs to burn, to burn.
I feel its influence, its latency, and the moment
in which it wants to light its altar candles.

            But life is calling
            and it’s too late to learn.

I knew that your sun, tenderness,
gives the children’s sky a rosy hue,
and that under the laurel, the coarse hero
must have something of the child.
Ah, who could be reborn from tremulous
childhood into a dawn of innocence!

            But life is passing
            and it’s too late to learn.

I knew that the deep peace
of affection, the lilies of pleasure,
the magnolia of light of energy,
woman carries in her soft breast.
How much a true man I would like to be,
my temples submissive to that soft breast!

            But life is running out
            and it’s too late to learn.