A poem about old age, translated from the French


Ageing body

Your body, mainland that swells and roars over there,
And sends out its doubts, its dreads and its wrinkles,
Filling its mazes of barren chinks and crackles
With tribes whose rumours cause your pallet to shiver.
Your bottomless grave leaks the night that's your sire
Feeding with its velvet your greed for void and gold,
Harnessing and driving your beasts into the fold,
Spreading soothing slumber over the songs of war.
Look at the flaring flame that lights up your visage,
Highlighting the salients and unveiling the sage,
Thundering to heavens from its rocky passage!
Flame! Fire! A chord alike that strikes many others,
Enlighten the temple obstructed with litters
And your body, the god who in this shrine slumbers!


Tout ton corps continent houle et gronde là-bas,
Déléguant ses stupeurs, ses effrois et ses rides,
Habillant ses chaos de crevasses arides,
De peuples dont les cris ébranlent ton grabas.
De ton abîme sort la nuit dont tu tombas
Qui comble de velours ta faim d'ordre et de vide,
Impose le harnais à  tes fauves, les bride,
Etale le sommeil sur le chant des combats.
Voici monter le feu d'où surgit ton visage:
Il éclaire les pics, il éveille le sage,
Il tonne au coeur du roc qui du ciel est passage.
Flamme! Feu! Tel l'accord éveille les accords,
Illumine le temple obstrué de décors
Et le dieu qui veillait dans son temple - ton corps.




Poetry by Michel Galiana
Read 1307 times
Written on 2008-10-01 at 09:35

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