I walked alone in a wild dream within darkness shone a bright beam eyes closed I followed a light stream a way to another future
My faith restored I took a leap a giant fall into the deep edges of me began to seep into the welcoming haven
My frame went through more than duress though no fools were left to impress I paved a way to sweet success my King, future consort to tame
Written in the context of Ronovanwrites challenge in Ovi poetry challenge 61 using as inspiration the word “success”. For more contributions and to see the rules, follow this link https://ronovanwrites.com/2024/08/14/ovi-poetry-challenge-61-success-is-your-inspiration/
Quand surgit la pâleur du futur à éteindre12 janvier 2022
Courtesy Rodrigo Luff
Nous n’irons plus aux bois tels des enfants légers
Les yeux remplis de rêves et de tendres désirs
Nous n’aurons plus aux doigts cette musique ailée
L’oreille sonnera la trêve de ces fantasques plaisirs
Relevons les éclats de nos cœurs emmêlés
Quand s’écoule lente la sève en un bel élixir
Témoin de nos ébats scellant grandes échappées
Le devoir veut qu’on crève en un dernier soupir
Compterons-nous les secrets des intrépides soldats
Raidis par la douleur de patrie à étreindre?
Des drapeaux à hisser dans un froid de verglas
Quand surgit la pâleur du futur à éteindre
Lecture du poème:
Corneille - Parce qu'on vient de loin
Summarised translation of the Alexandrin French poem into English
When the pallor of the future to be extinguished arises January 12, 2022
Courtesy Rodrigo Luff
We will no longer go to the woods like light children
Eyes filled with dreams and tender desires
We will no longer have this winged music at the tips of our fingers
The ear will sound the end of these fantastic pleasures
Let’s lift up the shards of our tangled hearts
When the sap slowly flows into a beautiful elixir
Witness of our frolics sealing great escapes
Duty wants us to die in a last sigh
Will we count the secrets of intrepid soldiers
Stiffened by the pain of fatherland to embrace
Flags to be hoisted in a freezing cold
When the pallor of the future to be extinguished arises
Reading of the poem:
She walked through the swarming streets heading towards the beachfront. She smiled at the woman who crossed her path and touched her outstretched hands that were offering her a garland of jasmine woven with small roses. She took the garland and put it around her neck as her hair was too short to weave it in there. She paid the woman, smiled and moved on as the woman waved at her smilingly.
The sun was high in the sky but the sea remained grey as usual. She had wondered when she had first arrived at the seaside why the sea was always grey but had got used to it. It seemed like it had to blend with the darker colour of the rocks on the seaside. She thought back to the beautiful sparkling beaches in North Africa and wondered whether it was the pollution here that made the sea turn grey close to the coast.
She sat on a rock overlooking the beach and stared at the sea. The waves were making a gentle lulling sound interrupted from time to time by the shrieks of children jumping into the water. It was a joyous sight but somehow she could not help her heart feeling heavy. She could not get over the feeling that something had completely stirred out of control in her destiny, changing her future, and that it was not by chance. Barely a year and a half had gone by but it seemed like it was light years away.
Back home to keep the memories of those moments of the future she had glimpsed she had resorted to collecting falling leaves in which she mentally inscribed glimpses of that future. Over time, the future she had seen seemed to be slowly fading into oblivion and she would then take out the leaves to remember. Each leaf reminded her vividly of a place in time where she had been in thought and where she had lived an incredible adventure filled with love and happiness.
Her right hand felt for the small basket that was tucked inside her handbag. It was still there and she sighed a sigh of relief. She wondered how it could be so small and hold so much at the same time. She got up from the rock and resumed her walk but towards the canal this time. It was one of the rare places in the city where stagnant water was not necessarily a synonym of stench and rot. At some points it even looked beautiful with profuse vegetation and a small bridge-like construction.
The water was a sombre green. She walked to the bridge, looked over the edge of it and slowly emptied the small basket. The leaves fell into the water and swirled away with the current caused by the wind. She watched until they were out of sight and felt as though her heart were leaving with those swirling leaves. Yet she knew that she could not hold on to the leaves as a totem anymore. They had to disappear for what they represented to reappear.
Those moments of the lost future she had lived had to be reintegrated within her. They belonged to her and had to be a part of her again, not relegated to the role of externalised memories. Her heart warmed slowly with the returning memories that filled her being with love. It was as if the release of the leaves had opened a dam within her. The images cascaded in her mind like a whirlpool of sunny water as they filled her neurons. Tears of joy streamed down her face and wiping them she lifted her head and smiled up at the skies. It did not matter anymore that it had been steered away for it existed out there. It was forever hers.
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