Painting
all things look as if
they are waiting, as soon as we see them. is it by their
proven resemblance
that we will know they are, at the same time that we are,
here.
itself, it is
reality — other, and resembling nothing, that we
desire. already, in the doorway, it flowers. in
the halo flush with bloom, which cuts through all
appearance. almost unmoved.
the tile. the vines
of the façade. in
the branchings, the breakage of the sky. this is how the given world’s
fatigue, its freshness, cracks and flowers.
it happens
that, once we’ve reached the thing we have desired,
it may slip away into an infinite otherness. no
illusion if the window returning the color of its light to the
blue we do not see is forever merged with
that blue. who, then, will say the name of recognized things?
already, through our waiting, they have flowered.
peinture
toutes les choses ont un air
d’attente, aussitôt qu’on les voit. est-ce à la
resemblance avérée
que nous les saurons, en même temps que nous,
ici.
elle-même, c’est
la réalité — autre, et qui ne ressemble à rien, que nous
désirons. déjà, dans l’embrasure, elle fleurit. dans
le halo d’une floraison au ras, qui perce à travers toute
apparence. presque sans émoi.
le carreau. les pampres
de la façade. dans
les branchages, le bris du ciel. ainsi se fêle, et
fleurit, la fatigue, la fraîcheur du monde reçu.
il arrive
que, parvenus à cette chose même que nous avons désirée,
elle se perde dans une différence infinie. nulle
illusion si la croisée renvoyant la couleur de sa lumière au
bleu qu’on ne voit pas, est pour jamais confondue avec
lui. qui, alors, dira le nom des choses reconnues?
déjà, dans cette attente, ells ont fleuri.
Translator: Hoyt Rogers divides his time between the Dominican Republic and Italy. His poems, stories, and essays, as well as his translations from the French, German, and Spanish, have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals. He has published over a dozen books, which include his own poetry and criticism as well as editions and translations. His most recent translation from the French, Second Simplicity—a collection of verse and prose by Yves Bonnefoy—was published by the Yale University Press in January 2012. With Paul Auster, he is currently preparing Openwork, an anthology of André du Bouchet.
