After a while you don't think about it anymore: <br />Don't translate, <br />Don't worry, <br />Don't try. <br />On est Là <br />[Or at least close enough to 'Là' to Rock 'n' Roll] <br /> <br />OK, it has to be admitted - <br />There are moments and messages <br />That fall through the listening 'net', <br />Odd things that appear, well, odd, <br />Or suffer in non-translation, <br />Especially at dinner parties, <br />Where the cut and chase of exchanges <br />Can get away from you <br />Faster than a Ferrari from a feu rouge. <br />But that's just how it is – <br />There's no 'playback' facility in real time <br />And 'rewind' comes with too much of a price, <br />Is a bargain bought and bought dear: <br />A chance to maybe, (just maybe) <br />Understand marginally better <br />The fast-fading echoes of phrases past, <br />Set against the almost certainty <br />Of the loss of the present sentence. <br />It's a no-brainer; <br />No goer, <br />No pointer: <br />A conversational, translation, <br />Lose-lose situation. <br /> <br />So cut yourself some slack, <br />Get out of the linguistic pressure cooker, <br />Turn down the self-inflicted heat <br />To the temperature of a well-chambréd Claret <br />And relax into it as you would <br />Snuggling up with a good book <br />Under a duck-down duvet <br />Gently pre-warmed by electric blanket <br />And having your lover come climb in beside. <br /> <br />Now that type of translation <br />Is pretty much guaranteed appreciation.<br /><br />Tony Jolley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/found-in-translation-2/
