Conduisant Une Auto De Carton Sans Permis.(Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
Conduisant Une Auto De Carton Sans Permis.(Translation) .
En conduisant une auto de carton sans permis
au debut du siecle
mon pere a rencontre ma mere
pendant une course d'amusement a Ile Coney
apres avoir apercu l'un l'autre a manger
dans une pension Francaise tout pres
Et en avoir decide sur le champ
qu'elle lui convenait entierement
il l'a suivie dans
la terre d'amusement de cette soiree
ou le rencontre precipite
de leur chair ephemere aux roues
les a jetes ensemble pour toujours
Et maintenant dans la banquette d'arriere
de leur eternite
en m'etendant pour les embrasser
-' Driving a Cardboard Automobile Without a License'.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti b.1919.
The poet remembers how his parents happened to meet, quite by chance on a fun-ride at Coney Island. His father decided on the spot that she was just right for him-love at first sight. They married and were together forever. Now, 'in the back set/of their eternity', he reaches out to embrace them.
It is good to remember your parents and all they did for you, even if there were some conflicts.
As a point of interest, Ferlinghetti must be 99 years old now. He founded and owned the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco in the 1950s, which became a meeting place for the Beat poets, of which Ferlinghetti was one. He promoted the careers of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Greg Corso, Michael McClure and others. It may turn out eventually that Ferlinghetti was the finest poet of all the Beats. I am impressed by his long poems 'Autobiography' and another about Fidel Castro.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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8/29/2026 11:35:13 PM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
I have read Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem and was enamored by its simplicity of expression. The narrative told in a flashback is riveting. You have done well to recreate the magic through this amazing translation. I am also grateful to you for giving so much info about the poet and his life. Thanks, Michael.
You have seen right to the heart of this memoir. A chance meeting can change your life, as with his parents.