Despair Is Seated on a Bench - Poem by Jacques Prévert 

In a square on a bench
There's a man who calls to you as you pass
He wears spectacles an old gray suit
He smokes a cigarillo he is seated
And he calls to you when you pass
Or he simply beckons you
You must not look at him
You must not listen to him
You must quickly pass by him
If you look at him
If you listen to him
He'll beckon to you and no one
Can prevent you from going to sit next to him
Then he looks at you and smiles
And you suffer atrociously
And the man continues to smile
And you smile the same smile
Exactly
The more you smile the more you suffer
Atrociously
The more you suffer the more you smile
Irredeemably
And you remain there
Sitting frozen
Smiling on the bench
Children play right near you
Passers-by pass
Tranquilly
Birds fly away
Leaving one tree
For another
And you remain there
On the bench
And you know you know
You never again will play
Like those children
You know you will never again pass by
Tranquilly
Like those passers-by
You will never again fly away
Leaving one tree for another
Like those birds.