Translated by the American poet Josh Watsky Original poem from : Le bateau de terre cuite, Al Manar, 2017.
It's almost already done.
It's almost already done.
the ship will disappear on the horizon
for the moment
I need words
of sound and time
overlapping caresses and words
one on top of the other
Our hands make shadows on a wall
bricks of lead
a celebration for lips and mouth
an unpublished fête for the pantry
moments as cities
miniscule
ravaged
tenderly
I will never find
a bacchanal so sweet
joy so intimate and mild
beauty so fragile
force so fleeting
I have forgotten nothing
of pleasure
nor of remorse
nor of regrets that bring pleasure
nor of the now
it is the end of the ancient world
it is the word that rebounds in emptiness
it is night behind day
who holds us in her arms
I inhale her scent of great partings
the sweetness of her starry skin
I touch with the tips of my fingers
the belly of the milky way
the light still invents our sight
the tree invents another cloud
a whale in the sky
sleeps on its back
Translated by the American poet Josh Watsky Original poem from : Le bateau de terre cuite, Al Manar, 2017.
Mizon (C) Julius Baltazar
Luis Mizon is a poet, novelist and painter. He was born in 1942 at Valparaíso, Chile. He is the son of a sailor who spent his childhood in Chillan. He studied History and Law at the University of Valparaiso. His Master's thesis was dedicated to "History and Poetry" about Saint John Perse. Then he taught History of Law at the University of Valparaiso. In 1974, after the military coup, he arrived in France, worked among other things as a journalist at France-Culture (the national cultural Radio channel) where he made several programs on Chile and Latin American and Spanish poetry. He followed the seminars of Picon, Romano, Laplanche, Pomien, Villey at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes and the Sorbonne. Introduced to Roger Caillois who, struck by his poetry, translated into French Terre prochaine in 1977 and L'Arbre in 1978. Roger Callois and Claude Couffon translated his work into French. Amongst many titles, Poème du Sud, went out in 1982 in “NRF” Gallimard. Since the starts of the 2000s, Luis Mizon writes in French. His most recent books are : Le Bateau de Terre Cuite, Al Manar, France, 2017 ; Lejos de Aquí, Al Fragor, Chile, 2017 ; Le Soudeur de Murmures, Folle Avoine, 2017 ; Mata ki te rangi. L’île dont les yeux regardent le ciel, Meridianes, 2016 ; Corps du Delit où se Cache le Temps, Aencrage, 2014 ; Chants à la nourrice Folle, Al Manar, 2013.