Poem by Hélène Sanguinetti Translated from French
By Hélène Sanguinetti and Ann Cefola
This poem, Joke 3, has been taken from “And here’s the song” by Hélène Sanguinetti, and has been translated from the French by Ann Cefola.
JOKE 3
it is snowing today almost
no one on the lane the boy makes
a fire (10) below, “no Wham doesn’t exist anymore, for
three years now that would be folly”
but others—the same adherents interfere
with their eyes eat snow mother powder belly
spread out
Behind the mountain there is a mountain
and Wham goes out of his niche, the boy mistaken
others sleep spread out and the moss of their
belly childlike softness
Too late means nothing when one is
living where it’s high and wide more than high
and wide more than wide
Traces of bear my children
still paint the sky with drops and
children cradled in the caves,
humble
Somersaulting and toppling over squares, It’s him
Aged of course sees himself in the smile of the
dog spine-weary from movement
lost snow does not age falls on the
ground
whiter than Ever existed
Whiteness collapsed under the squares
very small which means
no lone Whinenona of
squares
Kiss to the kingdom above
Kiss flown away to the gods
The wind pusher of snow or sand is beautiful
,“always the same glinglin” hey whatever glinglin, is
it is beautiful at the summit drawings of snow the
crusts the strips and on the sand over there
travelers looking at the entire world in its fold
sand powder on the slopes that jolt
the leopard the fallow deer
Girl decides herself→ and now enough, not at all
reluctant, our people11 in place and enough, barely Weeps
from the edge struggling almost at the edge one tear one
spring leaf she says,
tiny
So flowers of camels catch as they can
leaves and eat with bells the sun from afar, tear off
the tuft, in a circle
To stay inside you need some fresh fallen snow Soft,
Asleep, sand flowing so orange with its
breasts the evening wind, sea always immense sea
unfathomable depth Everything becomes People
within
To stay chirping in the garden
and the sky trouble the watering can’s surface
to completely enter there, always how, from the poem!
A lot of errors, too many, belly or, too many,
body hairs, too many words, but lid of
the jar on the roadside Lifts
genius dances and sings, takes off the 2 bumps
♪♫♥☼ spring
And enters spring.
In the cabin. And there is spring.
Before it shines, it’s day that shines
Called Welcome, Charming, remember?
had curls and javelin, This is
Love who lives there, at the bottom,
it is, also bird, whistler, as bright
as day, all for joy and to Dancing
on the meadow, Turning and Striking the heel
until cooked and dropped
In the world there is this day and grass
under teeth and blood which shines and sings
up in France from her neck to her temple aparade music, bassoon bugle, the
trucks parade on the road, Reeds,
what are you doing on the side?
Day says to day-the-rascal: stay, Need
love
need, Stay → the face enters the window
10: of crates
11: the girls
About the author and translator:
Hélène Sanguinetti, considered among the top female poets in France today, has authored Et Voici La Chanson (Éditions L'Amandier, 2012), Domaine des englués, suivi de six réponses à Jean-Baptiste Para (La Lettre Volée, 2017), Le Héros (Flammarion, 2008), Alparegho, Pareil-à-rien, (Comp’Act, 2005), D'ici, de ce berceau (Flammarion, 2003), and De la main gauche, exploratrice (Flammarion, 1999).
Ann Cefola's translations of Hélène Sanguinetti's work include The Hero (Chax Press, 2018), Alparegho, Like Nothing Else, selected for The Operating System’s 2019 Unsilenced Texts; and Hence this cradle (Seismicity Editions, 2007). Others have appeared in eleven eleven, Exchanges, Inventory, and Transference. She is also the author of Free Ferry (Upper Hand Press, 2017) and Face Painting in the Dark (Dos Madres Press, 2014).
