Robert Desnos

                                                                                        Man Ray. Les Mains de Robert Desnos (1923)

I’VE DREAMED OF YOU SO MUCH

           I’ve dreamed of you so much you’re losing your reality. 
          Is there still time to reach that living body and kiss on that mouth the birth of the voice that’s dear to me? 
          I’ve dreamed of you so much that my arms, used to crossing on my chest as I hug your shadow, couldn’t fold themselves around the shape of your body, maybe. 
          And faced with the actual appearance of what’s haunted me and ruled me for days and years, I would probably turn into a shadow. 
          O what a sentimental pair of scales. 
          I’ve dreamed of you so much there’s probably no more time for me to wake up. I sleep standing up, my body exposed to all the appearances of life and love and you, the only thing that counts for me today. I’d probably reach for the first lips and face that came along, than your face and your lips. 
          I’ve dreamed of you so much, walked so much, talked, slept with your phantom that maybe there’s nothing left for me to do but be a phantom among the phantoms and a hundred times more shadow than the shadow that strolls and will go on strolling cheerfully over the sundial of your life.

                                        translation by Carmen Lobo?