Duh crnoga Sama

iz knjige Stihom kroz život (2010.)

Black Sam's Ghost

from the book Through Life in Verse (2010)

Ispred kina stojim i gledam reklame.Pitala si tiho, prilazeći skromno,imate li možda jednu kartu za me?Dajući ti kartu, pogledah te pomno.

I stood outside the cinema and read the posters there;you asked me softly, coming shyly into view:"Have you perhaps a ticket for me you could spare?"Handing you the ticket, I looked you through and through.

Gledah te u oči tada za trenutak,bile su ti sjetne, tople, tako snene.Mišljah da bi možda našla neki kutak,u srdašcu svome, bar mali za mene.

I looked into your eyes then, for a moment's space;they were so wistful, warm, and dreamy as could be.I thought that maybe you would find some little place,a corner in your heart, however small, for me.

Kako su na platnu promicale sjenei ljubav se tako rađala međ' nama.Gledala si krišom vatrene mi zjene,a film se zvao "Duh crnoga Sama."

And as across the screen the shadows flickered past,and love was born between us as we sat engrossed,your secret glances at my fiery eyes were cast,and the film that was showing was called "Black Sam's Ghost".

Drhtalo mi srce kao da ga zebe.Ljubav nam je dao "Duh crnoga Sama."Ja sam htio biti tu večer kraj tebe,zato pođoh s tobom da ne budeš sama.

My heart was trembling as if cold had pierced it through.Our love was given to us by "Black Sam's Ghost".I'd wanted all that evening to be close to you;I went with you, lest you be alone with a ghost.

Valpovo, 1978.

Valpovo, 1978

Translator's note. The film was shown under the Croatian title "Duh crnoga Sama", which rhymes in the original with "sama" (alone), the poem's last word. The English plays on "ghost" instead: literally, "so that you would not be alone".