Centre for Romanian Studies

They miss the whisper that runs any day in your mind, "Who are you really, wanderer?"-- and the answer you have to give no matter how dark and cold the world around you is: "Maybe I'm a king."

William Stafford (1914–1993, U.S.A.)

A Story That Could Be True

If you were exchanged in the cradle and
your real mother died
without ever telling the story
then no one knows your name,
and somewhere in the world
your father is lost and needs you
but you are far away.

He can never find
how true you are, how ready.
When the great wind comes
and the robberies of the rain
you stand on the corner shivering.
The people who go by–
you wonder at their calm.

They miss the whisper that runs
any day in your mind,
“Who are you really, wanderer?”–
and the answer you have to give
no matter how dark and cold
the world around you is:
“Maybe I’m a king.”

(William Stafford, 1914–1993, U.S.A.)
(Going Over to Your Place: Poems for Each Other)

William Stafford, American Poet (1914-1993)

O poveste aproape adevărată
(William Stafford, 1914–1993, S.U.A.)

Din leagăn de-ai fi fost pierdut
iar maica ta ar fi murit
fără să sufle vre-un cuvânt nimănui
atunci nimeni nu ţi-ar fi ştiut numele
iar pe undeva prin lume
tatăl tău s-ar fi pierdut, fiindu-i dor de tine,
iar tu ai fi fost departe.

El n-ar fi avut de unde şti
Cât de netăgăduit eşti si cât de dornic.
Când vântul suflă puternic
şi ploaia ropoteşte
tu stai la răscruce de drumuri tremurând de frig
privind oamenii ce trec pe lângă tine
şi eşti uimit să vezi cât de stăpani sunt de sine.

Ei nu-ţi vor fi auzit şoapta
ce-ţi trece mereu prin minte.
“Oare cine eşti tu, străine?”
Iar tu, ori cât de intunecată şi rece
ţi-ar părea lumea din jurul tău, vei fi răspuns:
“Eu, poate sunt Împăratul!”

Versiune in Limba Româna:
Constantin ROMAN
Londra, 28 Deeembrie 2011

© Constantin ROMAN, 2011