Mondfleck

Der Mondfleck (The moonfleck)
By Albert Giraud, trans into German by Erich Hartleben, then into English by Andrew Porter

With a snowy fleck of shining moonlight
on the back side of his smart new frockcoat
so sets forth Pierrot one balmy evening,
in pursuit of fortune and adventure.

Sudden - something's wrong with his appearance,
he looks round and round and then he finds it -
there's snowy fleck of shining moonlight
on the back side of his smart new frockcoat.

Hang it! Thinks he: a speckle of plaster!
Wipes and wipes, but he can't make it vanish!
On he goes, his pleasure has been ruined,
rubs and rubs until it's almost morning
at a snowy fleck of shining moonlight.

***

I have taped a bright yellow sign on the office door today, which informs our temps that we won't be open late on Fridays anymore. If the sun were shining through the window at my back, there would be a patch of sunlight right where the yellow sign is, and in my peripheral vision, it gives the impression that the patch of sun is actually there. I keep turning my head to observe that the sun has come out, but it's still gray and rainy outside....