But Could You?

But Could You?  (1913)  by Vladimir Mayakovsky, translated by Dmitri Smirnov

First printed in March 1913 in the almanac “Trebnik troikh” (“The Breviary of Three”).

But Could You?

I blurred at once the map of humdrum,
by splashing colours like a potion;
I showed upon the dish of jelly
the slanted cheekbones of the ocean.

Upon the scales of metal fishes
I read the new lips’ attitude.
But could you
now
perform a nocturne
Just playing on a drainpipe flute?

<1913>

The note on the translation:

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