Lenore Langs


Translation of Annie Molin Vasseur's poem "Mémoires océanes"

Ocean memories
(excerpts)

Me, conch shell or coracle
oyster birthing new life
into the open sea of my beginning
i beach on rock
jelling the inner ivory
mother-of-pearl of every Japan

I
endless ocean
universal memory
am the tiny pearl
in the transfigured womb
cradle of humanity

Like a berthed boat
that clings to the water through each
open blow i lie low
winkle and leech and limpet
congealed forever
in my sailor's shell
the oars stowed
in an empty hold

Carving from sea bed
i exude calcified tears
and entreat the memory to proceed

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