Peut-être

Toi l’attentiste, toi l’abstentionniste,

Toi le neutre, toi le pleutre,

Toi le lâche, toi le macache,

Toi le nihiliste, toi l’individualiste, 

Toi à qui l’on a demandé de s’engager

Et qui nous as répondu sans même froncer : ‘P’têt ben qu’oui, p’têt ben que non’[1]

You the idealist, you the utopist,

You the dreamer, you the looser,

You the solitary, you the illusory,

You the vangardist, you the artist,

You who were asked to join

And answered us without even a blink: ‘wait-and-see’

Toi le nanti, toi le dandy,

Toi l’Enfant-Roi, toi le sans-voix,

Toi le déserteur, toi qui as peur,

Toi l’ignorant, et toi l’enfant,

Toi à qui l’on n’a jamais rien demandé

Et qui nous as répondu quand même : ‘P’têt ben qu’oui, p’têt ben que non’[2]

You the poet, you the aesthete,

You the thinker, you the academic,

You the beatnik, you the drifter,

You the bohemian, you the politician,

You who have been asked again and again

And promised us that it shall never be the same

Toi l’Alsacien, toi l’Africain,

Toi la putain, toi le vaurien,

Toi l’homme-à-vin, toi qui n’es rien,

Toi pour qui ce poème

Ne veut peut-être pas dire grand-chose,

Toi qui néanmoins pourrais toujours nous demander

Et à qui l’on répondrait du pareil-au-même : ‘P’têt ben qu’oui, p’têt ben que non’[3]

Enfin toi, le beau-parleur, le haut-parleur, (And thus you, the big mouth, the high-pitched,)

You who never raised your finger,

Toi le causeur, toi la Cosette, (You the chatter-box, you the Ned Kelly,)

Toi le casseur, toi l’emmerdeur, (You the breaker, you the ball-breaker)

And you the marginal, you the oppressed

To whom this poem is addressed,

You who asked but were never answered,

Don’t wait and see

Pour un peut-être (for a maybe)

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[1] You the fence sitter, you the abstentionist

You the neuter, you the cur,

You the coward, you the non-believer

You the nihilist, you the individualist

You who were asked to get involved

And answered us without even a frown: ‘wait-and-see’

[2] You the well-off, you the dandy,

  You the King-Child, you the voiceless,

You the deserter, you who are afraid,

You the ignorant, and you the child,

You who were never asked anything

And who still answered us: ‘wait-and-see’

[3] You the Tasman, you the African,

You the whore, you the worthless,

You the drinker, you the no-hoper,  

You for whom this poem

May not mean much,

  You who nonetheless could always ask us

And to whom we would answer all the same: ‘wait-and-see’