elena johnson


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

Remembering ocean
(excerpts)

Me conch or rowboat
oyster adrift in spawn
afloat far from my birthplace
I run aground on rock
hardening the inner ivory 
mother-of-pearl for all Japans.

I
ocean's infinite
collective memory
am the little pearl
in the iridescent belly
cradle of humankind.

. . .


Like a sleeping boat
which allows water through a wound
I lie open
a periwinkle with many parasites
rooted for eternity
in my navigator's shell
stowed with the oars
in this abandoned belly.

Sculpture from the depths of the sea
I distill calcic tears
and implore this memory to advance.

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