Monday, March 06, 2006

La rivière à mes pieds

la rivière à mes pieds
glisse sur les rochers,
tourbillonnant
en remous et ressacs,
dépassant l'obstacle
des souches à la dérive,
des rochers décalés —
elle s'écoule ininterrompue
où elle doit aller,
où elle doit aller,
où elle doit aller


in translation:

The river at my feet

the river at my feet
pours fast over boulders,
swirling around in
eddies and backwashes,
past unexpected obstacles
of drifting logs and
shifting rocks —
it flows still unimpeded
where it needs to go
where it needs to go
where it needs to go

12 Comments:

Blogger alan said...

A beautiful visualisation of life, one I shall try to remember with a smile when I start trying to fight it...

Thank you!

alan

3/06/2006 10:40 AM  
Blogger Sue hardy-Dawson said...

This is wonderful did you write it?

3/06/2006 11:51 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Yes, Sue, it's mine. Everything here is mine unless otherwise indicated.

3/06/2006 11:53 AM  
Blogger mermaid said...

'where it needs to go'...

if only it were that simple to accept

3/06/2006 1:52 PM  
Blogger snowsparkle said...

this felt so great as i read it... you can imagine just how much a person whose blog is named "becoming a river" would love this poem. thanks! wish i spoke French... it would probably sound even better, but my French lessons were limited to one lucky year in kindergarten.

3/06/2006 2:47 PM  
Blogger Lori Witzel said...

Ahhhh. Thank you.

While not quite a river, please come visit the ebb and flow of one of my favorite creeks if you'd like...

http://chatoyance.blogspot.com/2006/03/where-it-flows-during-drought.html

3/06/2006 7:21 PM  
Blogger Jean said...

Très beau poème !
Aussi beau en anglais qu'en français !
Je vous souhaite une belle journée .
Je suis impatient de lire vos prochains poèmes !

3/07/2006 4:10 AM  
Blogger Sky said...

just as we flow where we need to go, past all our impediments and obstacles, and shifting "rocks"...

Your poetry is simply beautiful. I wish I could still read French like I could in college. How did you become so fluent and maintain it? I have lost my vocabulary and never could roll my "Rs"!

3/07/2006 5:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's the rocks that make the river sing. beautiful.

3/07/2006 8:59 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Alan, I do the same thing.

Mermaid, it's not at all simple to accept. Repetition helps.

Snowsparkle, I'm glad it meant something to you, too.

Lori W, thank you for the invitation! I'll be sure to check it out.

Jean le genereux, merci pour m'avoir aide tant! J'apprends, et j'apprenderai...

Sky, I lived in France for a little while as a child and soaked it up. But I haven't used the language in years, until now, thanks in part to Jean! So I'm very rusty.

Oh, Anne, they do. Thank you.

3/07/2006 9:45 AM  
Blogger DTclarinet said...

Doit also means "must", doesn't it?

3/07/2006 8:02 PM  
Blogger MB said...

Yes, it does, David. Must, need, be obligated to.

3/07/2006 8:11 PM  

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