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The Elms
In static fields
like slender umbrellas,
in tranquil elegance,
the elms are alone
or among small families.
Composed, they give shade
to cattle and horses
who surround them at noon;
they do not speak,
I did not hear them call.
The elms are insensible,
giving thin shade
simply
to the beasts.
~ ~ ~
River of My Eyes
Oh, this morning my eyes are wide like rivers,
the wave of my ready eyes reflects everything,
this coolness under my eyelids is
extraordinary,
encircling all the images I see--
as a stream that cools an island,
or as flowing waves surround
a sunlit swimmer.
~ ~ ~
Bird Cage
I am a bird cage,
a cage of bone
with a bird inside.
This bird is mortality which makes
his nest in my bone cage.
When nothing transpires
one hears the creasing of his wings,
and when one laughs loudly
then suddenly stops,
he can hear it call
like a small bell.
It is a bird held captive,
inevitable death in my bone cage.
Wouldn't he like to escape,
and is it you that would return
or is it me,
what is it that
it couldn't leave
after it's eaten away
my heart,
the wellspring of blood
with life inside--
It will always hold my soul in its beak
~ ~ ~
Accompaniment
I walk beside a joy
A joy that is not mine
and that I cannot hold.
I walk beside my joyful self.
I hear the steps that walk beside me,
But I cannot change places on the sidewalk,
I cannot put my feet on those steps and say this is me.
I'm briefly content in this company,
But in secret I devise exchanges
In all sorts of operations, alchemies,
In blood transfusions,
atoms moving in some balancing act
So that one day, transfigured,
I may be borne by the dance of these joyful steps
With the fading sound of my own beside me,
Their exilic loss diminishing to my left
Beneath a stranger who takes a side-street.
http://enfrancais.home.att.net/Garneausample.htm
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
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