saint marcel
from espèce
Translated by Nathanaël
[ Note: “Saint-marcel” comes from “fluides” (fluids), a series of poems that follows the redirected coastal river, the Huveaune, which originates in the massif of Sainte Baume and empties at Marseille. Its polluted waters are redirected away from the beaches in the vicinity of its mouth and emptied into the Cortiou Calanque. ]
they are not the only ones to mourn the dead
brambles too carry grief
what do they think
stones have knowledge of terms
and fruits darken
lovers succumb at their feet
in the copse with the dormouse sometimes a gilt
the shrub detaches from its livid flowers
we pick all the black fruit
the plastic bag is full of them.
they overflow my passport bloodies
we go around from behind along the
rail line
not far from the station where the vintimille train
no longer stops
crossing the river we recognize the furniture
the wicker armchair and the low table
they didn’t have time to take them
further along the bridge crosses nothing
the water carries rubble
here the river ceases to resemble itself
the lizard joins us we walk upstream
toward the center
he follows us his eyes are the eyes of birds
like them when we want to seize it pick it
amputate it it flees
the body is safe
however the tail will only grow back
once
