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Românăback DANIEL BĂNULESCU
translation from the Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin and Lidia Vianu
You Sang Beautifully but You Didn’t Change Your Life
They all laughed and left
As if our brief life here were meant for laughter
Some with long faces and sharp teeth
Others with their repulsive jowly faces and sharp teeth
Laughed groaned and left
You sang beautifully but you didn’t change your life
You wept flailed about jumped and sang beautifully oh singer
But you didn’t change your life
You felt torn up inside you crawled to the john and upchucked
To the applause of thousands of spectators who kept stroking your cheek
For naught
You sang beautifully we felt so clever
Especially when madness had taken your head between its hands
And clasping it hard had begun to lick your lips
We’d seen nothing like this for so long a time
You stood you seemed unduly calm and you said,
“I’m damn sick and tired of this”
We returned home ate lunch gave a belch
Happy with the fact that although you sang so beautifully,
Not even you had been able to change your life 
Contributor’s notes: Daniel Bănulescu
Contributor’s notes: Adam J. Sorkin
Contributor’s notes: Lidia Vianu
Then Suddenly, in the Little Bar of Your Body, I Overturn the Table
You Sang Beautifully but You Didn’t Change Your Life