The Old Man pinches a bottle of perfume

The Old Man
pinches a bottle of perfume
in the cosmetics department.
At home a female genie rises up
from the unscrewed aperture:
I'll give myself to you,
old man. But my body
is inside your head.
Touch yourself to make me
yours, you fool, fallen
again for the promise
of the printed word.
The Old Man resolves
to unlearn the alphabet
for good.

Translated by Hans-Christian Oeser