Poems by Tanella Boni
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and he recounted his life the joy
the gleam of his shell the gaping sound sailor seducer of seas and winds when he uses his words of laughter prince of sands in the midst of the feast even the table dreads the end of humanity at the edge of a fleeting life together this life even if a well of meaning clearly an ephemeral life close the door to the incense of other words without frontiers all tales told hominids have invented nothing new on Earth each word leading to the next is consolation for oneself alone when the boat of love pitches and keels over in the midst of the infinite solitude of the sea "The gift still to come" English translation © by Patrick Williamson 2012 First published in The Parley Tree: Poets from French-speaking Africa and the Arab World (ed. Patrick Williamson) Arc Publications. the man dreams imagines the rose for his wife the only one but the woman is always another walking at different paces like the sea between consonant and vowel love is always another story and religions have done the rounds of ideas drawn the trees of the world's metamorphosis different skins have not met eyes are afraid of eyes and hands ignored the fraternal greeting there was no need this parallel life of theirs appears to follow the river and destiny of eternal separation "The gift still to come" English translation © by Patrick Williamson 2012 First published in The Parley Tree: Poets from French-speaking Africa and the Arab World (ed. Patrick Williamson) Arc Publications. |
Tanella Boni was born and brought up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, before going to University in Toulouse and then Paris. She is now a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Abidjan (Cocody). She was the President of the Ivory Coast Writers Association from 1991 to 1997 and is often invited to address international conferences on poetry, the arts and literature. In 2005, she received the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize for her novel Matins de couvre-feu (Editions du Serpent à plumes, Paris 2005). Her poetry collections include amongst others Labyrinthe (Editions Akpagnon, 1984); Grains de sable (Le bruit des autres, 1993); Gorée île baobab (Le bruit des autres, Ecrits des Forges, 2004), Là où il fait si clair en moi (Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2017). A selection of her poems appeared in English translation by Patrick Williamson in The Parley Tree: Poets from French-speaking Africa and the Arab World (ed. Patrick Williamson, Arc Publications, 2012). She has also published novels, short stories and children’s literature. Tanella Boni has lived in Abidjan for more than twenty years.
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