Fern G. Z. Carr

Mots en mouvement/Words on the Move 2007

Translation of Zachary Richard's poem "1^er août, Section III (extrait)."
Traduction du poème "1er août, Section III (extrait)" de Zachary Richard.

The First of August, Part III (excerpt)
It's too hot for
        This beginning of August, the trees
Tired by July's heat.
        The yellowed leaves, the energy
That returns to the earth.
        Except for the indomitable oaks
Refuge for the singing cicadas,
        And the spiders sculpting
Their webs. In their branches,
The ants dancing
A delicate step, a summer's-end ballet.

Like the birds, I hide under the leaves
        Seeking shade.
Looking at this white and pitiless sun,
        Asking faded questions,
How through evolution and persecution
        Through life and death, how my bones, my blood,
My eyes, my balls, my head
        Could have gotten here? Linked by my ancestors
To the first men to walk, to the first fish
        Swimming in the primordial ooze,
Linked by my arteries to the first hint
        Of the first idea in the
Middle of an afternoon on a path
        That sets out from south-west Louisiana country
To who knows where, linked by the choices of my
        Heritage with roots in the past as much as
In the future, and by as many accidents or twists of fate.
        Saddened by man's arrogance,
Soothed by the beauty of the fields
        And the trees.

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