A Nappy Ewe's Hear

A Happy New Year to one & all! I have no resolutions to fess up to – except that I’ll brave the rain & a certain tiredness to make my way to Saint Mark Poetry Project’s 34th the annual new year’s day marathon reading later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, here is Abdellatif Laâbi’s yearly New Year’s poem, in my translation:

Little wave of pure joy
you are welcome
amidst an ocean of sorrows
Thanks to you I know
that it isn’t pointless to hope for a truce
in the cycle of horrors
that in the notebook of love
there remain a few unwritten pages
that a friend long out of touch
will send a most unexpected message
that another life
with a brief but amazing flame
still awaits me in this life
Little wave of pure joy
put a smile on the faces
of all those these lines
will reach!

As New Year’s Greetings, and sign of live friendship, Abdellatif Laâbi, translated by Pierre Joris

Petite vague de joie pure
sois la bienvenue
au milieu de l’océan des peines
Grâce à toi je sais
qu’il n’est pas vain d’espérer une trêve
dans le cycle de l’horreur
que dans le cahier de l’amour
il me reste des pages blanches
qu’un ami perdu de vue
me fera le plus inattendu des signes
qu’une autre vie
à la flamme brève mais inouïe
m’attend encore dans cette vie
Petite vague de joie pure
puisses-tu éclairer d’un sourire
le visage esquissé
de chaque destinataire de ces lignes !

Voilà en guise de vœux, et en signe d’amitié vive. Abdellatif Laâbi

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  1. Di Mackey says:

    Beautiful poem. I borrowed it, blogging it on, linking back to you.

    Thanks for posting it.

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