During two hours on the train
I rerun the film of my life
Two minutes per year on average
Half an hour for childhood
Another half-hour for prison
Love, books, wandering
take up the rest
the hand of my companion
gradually melts into mine
and her head on my shoulder
is as light as a dove
When we arrive
I’ll be fifty or so
and still have
about an hour
to live
Abdellatif Laâbi “Two Hours on the Train,” from In Praise of Defeat. English language copyright © 2016 by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Source: In Praise of Defeat (Archipelago Books, 2016)