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A Cloud in Trousers
by Vladimir Mayakovsky
translated from the Russian by Andrey Kneller

Part IV
 
Maria! Maria!29
Let me in, Maria!
Don’t leave me out on the street!
You can’t?
My cheeks cave in,
But you wait ruthlessly.
Soon, sampled by everyone,
Stale and pallid,
I’ll come out
And mumble toothlessly
That today I’m
“Remarkably candid.”
 
Maria,
You see--
My shoulders are drooping again.
 
In the streets, the men
Prick the fat in their four-story craws.
They show their eyes,
Worn out in the forty years of despair, and restless-
They snicker because
In my teeth,
Again,
I hold the hardened crust of last night’s caresses.
 
The rain wept over the sidewalks, -- 
That puddle-imprisoned fraudster.
The corpse of the street, clobbered by cobbles, soaked in its cries.
But the gray lashes--
Yes! --
The eyelashes of icicles became frosted
With tears from the eyes--
Yes! -- 
From the drainpipes’ overcast eyes.
 
Every pedestrian was licked by the rain’s snout:
Athletes glistened in the carriages on the street.
People burst
Overstuffed,
And their fat oozed out.
Like a muddy river, it streamed on the ground,
Together with juices from
A cud of old meat.
 
Maria!
How can I fit a tender word into bulging ears?
A bird
Sings for alms
With a hungry voice
Rather well,
But I am a man, 
Maria,
Coughed up by the ailing night into Presnya’s30 filthy palms.
 
Maria, do you want me?
Maria, take me in, please.
With shivering fingers I’ll squeeze the iron throat of the bell!
 
Maria!
 
The pastures of streets turn wild and loud!
They’re squeezing my neck and I’m almost collapsing.
 
Open!
 
I’m hurt!
 
Look - my eyes are pricked out
By the common womanly hatpins!
 
You’ve opened the door.
 
My child!
Oh, don’t be alarmed!
You see these women, 
Hanging on my neck like mountains, --
Through life, I drag with me
A million of massive, enormous, pure loves
And a million millions of filthy, disgusting lovelets.
Don’t be afraid
If betraying the vow
Of honesty,
Seeing a thousand pretty faces, I’ll throw myself at them, --
“Those, who love Mayakovsky!”-
Please, understand that that is the dynasty
Of the queens, who have mounted the heart of a madman. 
 
Maria, closer!
 
Whether naked and shameless,
Or shivering in dismay,
Yield the wonder of your lips, so gentle:
My heart and I have never lived until May,
But in my past,
A hundreds of Aprils assembled.
 
Maria!
A poet sings praises to Tiana31 all day,
But I--
I’m made of flesh,
I’m a man, --
I ask for your body,
Like the Christians pray:
“Give us this day
Our daily bread.”
 
Maria, give it to me!
 
Maria!
I fear to forget your name
As a poet fears to forget under pressure
A word
He conceived in a restless night,
Equal to God in effect.
 
Your body
I shall continue to love and treasure
As a soldier
Amputated by war,
Alone
And unwanted,
Cherishes his remaining leg.
 
Maria, --
You won’t have me?
You won’t!
 
Ha!
 
Then gloomy and dismal, 
Once more, 
I shall carry 
My tear-stained heart
Forward,
Like a dog,
Limping,
Carries the paw
That the speeding train had ran over. 
 
With the blood from the heart I cheer the road that I roam,
Flowers cling to my jacket, making it dusty, 
The sun will dance a thousand times round the earth, 
Like Salome32
Danced around the head of the Baptist.
 
And when my years, at their very end, 
Will finish their dance and wrinkle,
A million bloodstains will spread
The path to my Father’s kingdom.
 
I’ll climb out
Filthy (sleeping in gullies all night),
And into his ears, I’ll whisper
While I stand 
At his side:
 
“Mister God, listen!
Isn’t it tedious
To dip your generous eyes into clouds
Every day, every evening?
Let’s, instead,
Start a festive merry-go-round
On the tree of knowledge of good and evil!
Omnipresent, you’ll be all around us!
From the wine, all the fun will ensue
And Apostle Peter, who’s always been frowning,
Will perform the fast-paced dance -- ki-ka-pu.33
We’ll bring all the Eves back into Eden:
Order me
And I’ll go--
From the boulevards, I’ll pick up all the pretty girls needed
And bring them to you!
 
Should I?
 
No?
 
You’re shaking your curly head coarsely?  
You’re knitting your brows like you’re rough? 
Do you think 
That this
Winged one, close by,
Knows the meaning of love?
 
I too am an angel; used to be one before--
With a sugar lamb’s eye, I stared at your faces,
But I don’t want to give presents to mares anymore, --
All the torture of Sevres that’s been made into vases.34
Almighty, You created two hands, 
And with care,
Made a head, and went down the list, --
But why did you make it
So that it pained
When one had to kiss, kiss, kiss?!
 
I thought that you were the Great God, Almighty
But you’re a miniature idol, -- a dunce in a suit,
Bending over, I’m already reaching
For the knife that I’m hiding
At the top of my boot.
 
You, swindlers with wings, 
Huddle in fright!
Ruffle your shuddering feathers, rascals!
You, reeking of incense, I’ll open you wide,
From here all the way to Alaska.
 
Let me go!
 
You can’t stop me!
Whether I’m right or wrong
Makes no difference, 
I will not be calmer.
Look, --
The stars were beheaded all night long
And the sky is again bloody with slaughter.
 
Hey you, 
Heaven!
Take your hat off,
When you see me near!
 
Silence.
 
The universe sleeps.
Placing its paw
Under the black, star-infested ear.

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