ekleksographia wave two

Grasshopper

                      for Erika


Lately I fear I'll die, suddenly, at a critical time
In my career, outside of history

                       And she will know

I've always loved her
blighted palms, coral ruins

Blood-shapely artifacts, lightning
Pasted on black sky, high-rise hotels

              Teeth in salt-worn jaw
              clamped on a planetary skyline

                                  Tragic city!
You love everyone but can't live with yourself

Dozing under clouded weight of a gray storm
Hammers pummel concrete
into limestone graves

There goes the ghost
of the man who was my doctor

Bouquets scream with summer's melting petals


                                                         Miami
                                                         July 16, 1997

---

Sauterelle

                      pour Erika


Ces derniers temps j'ai peur de crever, d'un coup, à un tournant
De ma carrière, à l'extérieur de l'histoire

                       Elle l'apprendra

Je l'ai toujours aimée
palmiers malades, ruines de corail

Artefacts à la beauté de sang, éclairs
Collés sur un ciel noir, les buildings des hôtels

              Dents d'une mâchoire usée par le sel
              serrée sur une ligne d'horizon planétaire

                                  Ville tragique!
Tu aimes tout le monde mais tu ne te supportes pas

Assoupie sous le poids gris d'une tempête
Les marteaux piqueurs enfoncent le béton
dans la tombe de calcaire

Tiens, v'là le fantôme
du type qui était mon médecin

Fondent les pétales de l'été dans le cri des bouquets


                                                         Miami
                                                         16 juillet, 1997

Ekleksographia:
Wave Two

October, 2009

Poems

• Grasshopper
• Sauterelle

Michael Rothenberg translated by Vincent Dussol

Michael Rothenberg is a poet, songwriter, and editor of the webzine BigBridge.org. His poetry books include The Paris Journals (Fish Drum Press), Unhurried Vision (La Alameda/University of New Mexico Press), and most recently CHOOSE, Selected Poems (Big Bridge Press). He is also editor of the Collected Poems of Philip Whalen (Wesleyan University Press).

Vincent Dussol teaches American literature at Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Thomas McGrath, has translated different poets (DiPalma, Dorn, Fanny Howe, Olson, Osbey) and written on their work, plus the work of a few others like E. Sikelianos and Lew Welch. He and Michael Rothenberg met in 2009 through "POEM," a program of FACE (French American Cultural Exchange).