Tentación (y recuerdo de los 60's) - Temptation (and a flash-back to the 60's)

the 60’s

I don’t remember much about them

except you’d look and some guy

might be wearing a headdress of Indian

feathers.

everybody was covered with beads

and were passing joints.

they stretched around on comfortable rugs

and

didn’t do anything.

I don’t know how they made the rent.

the woman I was living with was

always telling me, “I’m going to a

Love-In!”

“all right,” I’d tell her.

she’d come back and say something

like, “I met this BEAUTIFUL BLACK

MAN!” or, “we made the cops smile!

I gave one a FLOWER!”

I seemed to be the only person with

an 8-hour job.

and there were always people

coming through the door and raiding

my refrigerator for food and beer.

“WE SHARE!” the woman I lived with

told me, “WE SHARE OUR LOVE!”

a guy would stick his face into mine.

drunk on my beer, he’d scream:

“YOU OUGHTA SEE THE YELLOW

SUBMARINE!”

“what’s that?” I asked.

“THE BEATLES, MAN, THE

BEATLES!”

I thought he meant “beetles.”

then there was somebody called

WAVY GRAVY.

they even talked me into going on

an LSD trip.

I found it to be stupid.

“you failed,” they told me, “you failed,

you didn’t open up.”

“Peace!” I said, “Peace!”

then, I don’t know, all at once

the 60’s seemed to be

over.

almost everybody vanished just like

that.

you’d see a few of the leftovers

now and then

down at Venice Beach,

standing around on corners,

sitting on benches

looking really washed-out,

with very vacant stares,

somehow astonished

at the turn of events.

they slept in cars,

stole what they could

and demanded hand

outs.

I don’t know where all the others

went.

I think they got suits and ties

and went looking for

the 8-hour job.

the 70’s had arrived.

and that’s when I dropped out.

and I had the whole place

all to

myself.

From "The Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain" (Charles Bukowski)

Nota: incluiré mi traducción en el futuro cercano, cuando tenga más tiempo...