Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Samira Negrouche

From \'Six makeshift trees around my bathtub \'

Above our heads                 a vertical shadow                vibrates
a shadow that flaps above our heads
a clandestine whistling
on the arid plain                    above our overloaded
                                                                                     heads

and while there’s that whistling         that unanticipated whistling
as our buzzing skulls
a cement roof accommodates our moods
our reckless hipbones             on the makeshift platform
                                                the constellation set adrift
in the fog of the senses

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage

vertical shadows race                  at the dunes’ edge
your eyes bandaged behind concave ice
anti-UV protection              not guaranteed

a piano’s black keys                                 
                                            at the dunes’ edge
a scale that makes no sound

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage
a vertical shadow                 planted on the arid plain
that you water with promises
the metallic organ that vibrates
                                                      at the edge of a lung
on the cement platform
where the musics clash
protection              not guaranteed
for a makeshift                                         totem.                                        
     

From \'Six makeshift trees around my bathtub\'


il y a sur nos têtes         une ombre verticale        qui vibre
une ombre qui claque sur nos têtes
un sifflement clandestin
dans la plaine aride        sur nos têtes
                            encombrées


et pendant que ça siffle     que rien ne prévoit que ça siffle
que nos crânes bourdonnent
c’est un toit en béton qui accueille nos humeurs
nos flancs téméraires         sur la plate-forme de fortune
                    la constellation larguée
dans le brouillard des sens


tu n’as pas abandonné l’épave poussiéreuse


des ombres verticales courent     à lisière de dunes
tes yeux emmaillotés  derrière la glace concave
protection anti UV         non garantie

des touches noires        à lisière de dunes
un solfège sans bruit


tu n’as pas abandonné l’épave poussiéreuse

une ombre verticale         plantée dans la plaine aride
que tu irrigues de promesses
l’organe métallique qui vibre    à lisière de poumon
sur la plate-forme de béton
où les musiques s’entrechoquent
protection        non garantie
pour un totem                 de fortune.


Close

From \'Six makeshift trees around my bathtub \'

Above our heads                 a vertical shadow                vibrates
a shadow that flaps above our heads
a clandestine whistling
on the arid plain                    above our overloaded
                                                                                     heads

and while there’s that whistling         that unanticipated whistling
as our buzzing skulls
a cement roof accommodates our moods
our reckless hipbones             on the makeshift platform
                                                the constellation set adrift
in the fog of the senses

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage

vertical shadows race                  at the dunes’ edge
your eyes bandaged behind concave ice
anti-UV protection              not guaranteed

a piano’s black keys                                 
                                            at the dunes’ edge
a scale that makes no sound

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage
a vertical shadow                 planted on the arid plain
that you water with promises
the metallic organ that vibrates
                                                      at the edge of a lung
on the cement platform
where the musics clash
protection              not guaranteed
for a makeshift                                         totem.                                        
     

From \'Six makeshift trees around my bathtub \'

Above our heads                 a vertical shadow                vibrates
a shadow that flaps above our heads
a clandestine whistling
on the arid plain                    above our overloaded
                                                                                     heads

and while there’s that whistling         that unanticipated whistling
as our buzzing skulls
a cement roof accommodates our moods
our reckless hipbones             on the makeshift platform
                                                the constellation set adrift
in the fog of the senses

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage

vertical shadows race                  at the dunes’ edge
your eyes bandaged behind concave ice
anti-UV protection              not guaranteed

a piano’s black keys                                 
                                            at the dunes’ edge
a scale that makes no sound

you have not abandoned the dusty wreckage
a vertical shadow                 planted on the arid plain
that you water with promises
the metallic organ that vibrates
                                                      at the edge of a lung
on the cement platform
where the musics clash
protection              not guaranteed
for a makeshift                                         totem.                                        
     
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
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