Aleksandrs Caks
Romance

I have a place in the walls of downtown
Where a garden is -
Just a flowerpot on a stool in a room
Just a handful of last year's heather in a vase

There are no rivers greater than drainage
And no greater lakes than puddles
Where some basementkids are wading
In the warming sun

From nature there is left
Just a piece of orange peel
On the sidewalk
And some radishtops in the garbage-can

And at night
Instead of nightingales by my windows
There are signboards squeaking in the wind
And miaowing cats on roofs

But still downtown
And its broken streets
Are dear to me
As close as my beloved

There,
Opening my window,
Until boredom
I can stare at light bulbs
Instead of stars
And sink dreams
About the man
Who has built everything of this
So all of it would be as necessary for me
As a pulse
As a wind for sails
As a helmsman and a screw for a ship