Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Serge Delaive

Fairyland

Seven naked women
all wearing for finery
a torque around the neck
advancing towards me in a forest
they are wickedly beautiful
redheads or blondes
like the leafy borders avenues
in the wind which enfolds them
they sing lost couplets
and revive ancient vanquished gods
this one with a freckled face
stands before me and says
‘I recognize you. Your name is Anger’
She takes my sex in her hand
her green eyes moored to mine
whilst both bodies entwine
and murmurs softly depart
I remain still unable to choose
between my civilization and one forgotten
but someone cuts my wrist
laps the blood that runs
before spreading it with the tongue
into every orifice of my body
she who spoke to me gathers my seed
and smears it over my torso
before rejoining the lustful group
leaving me foolish beneath the leafage
surveyed by the half asleep eye of an owl
resembling the eye of war
laughter grows distant in the half-light
I can still discern a mocking voice
dawn husky and crystalline
flayed on the skin of the world
this long voracious serpent
the confused voice reaches me in fragments
carried on the wind which reunites
‘Anger, you will continue to wander the paths
until the day you find your true name’
But already all magic was lost
to the deepest depths of the darkest forests

Féerie

Féerie

Sept femmes nues
Avec pour toute parure
Un torque autour du cou
Avancent vers moi dans la forêt
Elles sont belles à se damner
Les cheveux blonds ou roux
Comme des traînes en allées
Dans le vent qui se replie
Elles chantent des couplets perdus
Et ravivent les anciens dieux vaincus
Celle-ci au visage couvert d’éphélides
Se tient debout face à moi elle dit
“Je t’ai reconnu. Ton nom est Colère “
Elle entoure mon sexe de sa main
Ses yeux verts arrimés aux miens
Pendant que tous les corps s’enlacent
Et que sourdent les murmures
Je demeure immobile incapable de choisir
Entre ma civilisation et celle oubliée
Mais quelqu’un entaille mon poignet
Lape le sang qui s’égoutte
Avant de le répandre avec la langue
Dans chaque orifice de mon corps
Elle qui m’a parlé recueille ma semence
Et la répand sur mon torse
Avant de rejoindre le groupe lascif
Me laissant stupide sous les feuillages
Surveillé par l’œil à demi assoupi du hibou
Semblable à l’œil de la guerre
Des rires s’éloignent dans la pénombre
Je devine encore une voix moqueuse
Aube rauque et cristalline
Écorchée sur la peau du monde
Ce très long serpent vorace
La voix confuse me parvient par bribes
Portées par le vent qui réunit :
“Colère, tu continueras à rôder sur les chemins
Jusqu’au jour où tu trouveras ton véritable nom”
Mais déjà toute magie s’est égarée
Au plus profond de la plus sombre des forêts.
Close

Fairyland

Seven naked women
all wearing for finery
a torque around the neck
advancing towards me in a forest
they are wickedly beautiful
redheads or blondes
like the leafy borders avenues
in the wind which enfolds them
they sing lost couplets
and revive ancient vanquished gods
this one with a freckled face
stands before me and says
‘I recognize you. Your name is Anger’
She takes my sex in her hand
her green eyes moored to mine
whilst both bodies entwine
and murmurs softly depart
I remain still unable to choose
between my civilization and one forgotten
but someone cuts my wrist
laps the blood that runs
before spreading it with the tongue
into every orifice of my body
she who spoke to me gathers my seed
and smears it over my torso
before rejoining the lustful group
leaving me foolish beneath the leafage
surveyed by the half asleep eye of an owl
resembling the eye of war
laughter grows distant in the half-light
I can still discern a mocking voice
dawn husky and crystalline
flayed on the skin of the world
this long voracious serpent
the confused voice reaches me in fragments
carried on the wind which reunites
‘Anger, you will continue to wander the paths
until the day you find your true name’
But already all magic was lost
to the deepest depths of the darkest forests

Fairyland

Seven naked women
all wearing for finery
a torque around the neck
advancing towards me in a forest
they are wickedly beautiful
redheads or blondes
like the leafy borders avenues
in the wind which enfolds them
they sing lost couplets
and revive ancient vanquished gods
this one with a freckled face
stands before me and says
‘I recognize you. Your name is Anger’
She takes my sex in her hand
her green eyes moored to mine
whilst both bodies entwine
and murmurs softly depart
I remain still unable to choose
between my civilization and one forgotten
but someone cuts my wrist
laps the blood that runs
before spreading it with the tongue
into every orifice of my body
she who spoke to me gathers my seed
and smears it over my torso
before rejoining the lustful group
leaving me foolish beneath the leafage
surveyed by the half asleep eye of an owl
resembling the eye of war
laughter grows distant in the half-light
I can still discern a mocking voice
dawn husky and crystalline
flayed on the skin of the world
this long voracious serpent
the confused voice reaches me in fragments
carried on the wind which reunites
‘Anger, you will continue to wander the paths
until the day you find your true name’
But already all magic was lost
to the deepest depths of the darkest forests
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère