Ocean of Earth by Guillaume Apollinaire translated by Ron Padgett To G. de Chirico I have built a house in the middle of the Ocean Its windows are the rivers flowing from my eyes Octopi are crawling all over where the walls are Hear their triple hearts beat and their beaks peck against the windowpanes House of dampness House of burning Season’s fastness Season singing The airplanes are laying eggs Watch out for the dropping of the anchor Watch out for the shooting black ichor It would be good if you were to come from the sky The sky’s honeysuckle is climbing The earthly octopi are throbbing And so very many of us have become our own gravediggers Pale octopi of the chalky waves O octopi with pale beaks Around the house is this ocean that you know well And is never still
First published in Poetry (October 2015). Translated by Ron Padgett.