Sous
sous nos pas
la terre agonisait
sous un genou
un homme mourait
sous l’abus des pouvoirs
les démocraties suffoquaient
tout ce qui restait de nos certitudes
avait filé entre nos doigts
l’humanité est sous respirateur
comment redonner au monde
un souffle
des ailes
Under
under our steps
the earth dying
under a knee
a man dying
under power’s abuses
democracies suffocated
what remains of certainty
slipped from our fingers
humanity under a respirator
how to give back to the world
a breath
wings.
À ta fenêtre
à ta fenêtre
rien de changé
le ciel ignore
la catastrophe microscopique qui se déploie
à ta fenêtre
le grand érable ton refuge
s’étire au-delà de tes rêves
sa sève inlassable
comme une lumière
ses bourgeons neufs se déplieront bientôt
à ta fenêtre
la vie ne doute pas de ses recommencements
At your window
at your window
nothing has changed
the sky ignores
the microscopic catastrophe spreading
at your window
the great maple your refuge
stretches beyond your dreams
its unceasing sap
a light
new buds will unfurl soon
at your window
life does not doubt its rebirth.
Indran Amirthanayagam writes poetry in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. He is the author of twenty five books of poetry and poetry in translation, including Seer (Hanging Loose Press, 2024), The Runner's Almanac (Spuyten Duyvil, 2024), Origami: Selected Poems of Manuel Ulacia, Blue Window (Dialogos Books) The Migrant States (Hanging Loose Press 2020),Coconuts on Mars (Paperwall, 2019), Uncivil War (Mawenzi House (formerly TSAR), Canada, 2013), and the Paterson Prize-winning The Elephants of Reckoning (Hanging Loose, 1993). Amirthanayagam is a 2020 Foundation for Contemporary Arts fellow in poetry, and a past fellow of the New York Foundation for the Arts, the US/Mexico Fund for Culture, and the MacDowell Colony. He publishes poetry books with Sara Cahill Marron at Beltway Editions (www.beltwayeditions.com), edits The Beltway Poetry Quarterly; curates the reading series Poetry at Beltway Editions, He serves on the Board of DC-ALT. His blog is http://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com
Sylvie Poisson is a poet from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. She has also been an occupational therapist and volunteer in an international collaborative organization. She has three grown children. Passionate about literature since childhood, she has participated over the years un several training courses and writing workshops. She has published in several collective publications and literary reviews. Sylvie animated writing workshops and took part in various poetic performances. She has been a guest at the Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival since 2015. She has published two poetry books: “Les clartés offertes” in 2013 and “Les rives accordées” in 2018.