La beauté d'Ava Gardner [English translation]

I like men who do their best

sitting on the rivers' banks

staring at what floods down to the sea:

chunks of wood, neglected stuff

and Ava Gardner's beauty

Knowing all flows to the sea

puts that something in their eyes -

the young girl who mellowed on winter nights

the boats and the warfare planes

and Ava Gardner's beauty

The world's crumbled down palisades

our pure childhoods slipping away:

Edith Nylon, swimmers on their back

the smells of railroad stations

and Ava Gardner's beauty

I like bygone nostalgics1

who believe we loose all we get

who would like to change the rivers' course

to once again in the light

grasp Ava Gardner's beauty

Go back to the essentials,

to Ava Gardner's beauty

1. note that the word "regretteur" does not technically exist in French: it is a made-up word, stemming from the verb "regretter" and noun "regret." Consequently, I decided to use "nostalgic" as a noun here, despite its official status as an adjective in English, to better translate the original mood