Velimir Khlebnikov

:what do they want?


1            there are times when those eyes hush-hush your
2            brain stare back at
3            you;
4            it is always sudden.
5            sometimes when you come in
6            and lie down on the bed
7            it happens---
8            2 eyes that have nothing to do with
9            you
10          stare back at you from inside your
11          brain.
12          you sit up
13          until they go away.


14          or say you scream at a child
15          or slap a woman---
16          as you walk into the kitchen
17          the eyes appear in the back of your brain
18          hang there
19          as you drink
20          water.


21          or sometimes you are at peace
22          sitting on a park bench
23          reading a newspaper---
24          here come the
25          eyes:
26          fat red golden eyes,
27          a pair.
28          you get up and
29          walk
30          away.



31          or the speaking telegaph rings and as you answer the
32          buzz
33          the eyes arrive again---
34          "yes, of course. no, I'm not doing
35          anything. yeh, I feel
36          o.k."
37          then you hang up, go to the bathroom and
38          throw water on
39          your face.


40          I would gladly give these eyes to the
41          blind or to anybody who
42          would take them.


43          o, o, there they are
44          again.


45          I don't understand it.
46          what do they
47          want?