Why weep on the bald head of boredom
Heinous or otherwise
Esthetic
Reasoner
Ennui à la French
I’m an expert in sewing false eyelashes to my eyelids
The agate banishes hate in the paleness of a glance
I know how to weave the shadow that closes doors
When love
Smacks its lips standing in the hallway
Rereading your letters I think of our walks
The promises of summer lingering at Place Dauphine
Yawning beneath the bells
It’s already five o’clock
Gone are the kites the wise cobblestones the careless dust
The scrambled floor tiled like a handkerchief
Entangled and lascivious glance
The wool piles up on the coat hook
The sluggish night gargles
Handsome mess on my table
Why cry over a banquet of blood
Why rummage between the thighs of the old man
Venice
I am ready to cover you
With my hollyhock tongue of my soft hedges
Ready to chisel my fur
Stolen from the shopkeepers
Jump the ditch without petticoats or blinders
To fall still moist into your arms of rubbish
Why float put on makeup have fun
Why answer
Why run
The memory of your frozen sleep
Follows me step by step
When can I see you again
Without shedding tears on myself
Translated from the French
Notes: Read the French-language original, “Léger comme une navette le désir.”
This poem is part of “When Can I See You Again: The Poetry of Joyce Mansour,” translated by Emilie Moorhouse. You can read the rest of the portfolio in the June 2023 issue. All the English translations of Joyce Mansour’s poems are from Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems, edited by Emilie Moorhouse and Garrett Caples. Translations copyright © 2023 by Emilie Moorhouse. Reprinted with the permission of City Lights Books. For more information, visit www.citylights.com.
Source: Poetry (June 2023)
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