April 05, 2012
A la ligne
"Frozen Egret" by Cynthia Hahn.
Cynthia Hahn is a Professor of French and Editor of Collage. She loves to play with poems; see her chapbook Outside-In-Sideout (Finishing Line Press, 2010). She also is an active literary translator and has translated six novels by Lebanese and Algerian authors. The poem submitted this year is a kind of “collage of sounds” in both languages.
Bouche embouchant un son
Hibous blancs se bousculant
Croissants froissés froissant
Lézardes de moutarde encrustée
Lèvres chevrotantes
Brins de pins embrouillés
Ecureuil écoeuré
Fillotte en culotte
Au vent enveloppant
Tente de silence
Soupir décédant à la branche
Tombant sans déchirement
Laundry Line
Mouth troweled around a sound
A towelling mound of owls
Rumpled clusters of
Blustery rustled mustard
Lips sap-stuck to
Thickets of swaddled twigs
Squirrelly twirling
Skirt unfurling girl
Windspent rent bent
Silent tent
Death’s breath left
Hanging deftly bereft