O human brothers
O human brothers
O world
I had a child
I hid him in my belly
he shared my body
I fed him my blood
we shared my dreams
I sang for him, he smiled
I carried him, he stopped crying
they ripped him from my arms
I stopped singing
Do you remember
Do you remember
that little boy
who lived with his parents near us?
do you remember
when his mother entrusted him to us
when shopping?
and I’d put you together
to play and babble
do you remember
how quiet and wise he was?
he didn’t even protest
or get annoyed when you took his toy
or leaned on him to stand
His name was Salim
his mother, Josephine, a resigned woman
tasted bitterness, like me
when I heard his father
kidnapped him
stole him away to his grandmother
I cried for him
I didn’t know then
I was shedding my first tears
for you
Ô frères humains
Ô frères humains
ô monde
j’avais un enfant
je l’ai caché dans mon ventre
il a partagé mon corps
je l’ai nourri de mon sang
je lui ai fait partager mes rêves
j’ai chanté pour lui, il souriait
je l’ai porté, il cessait de pleurer
ils l’ont arraché à mes bras
j’ai cessé de chanter
Maram Al-Masri, Le Rapt (Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2015)
Tu te rappelles
Tu te rappelles
ce petit garçon
qui vivait avec ses parents près de chez nous ?
tu te rappelles
quand sa maman nous le confiait
pour faire ses courses ?
alors, je vous mettais ensemble
à jouer et babiller
tu te rappelles
comme il était calme et sage ?
il ne protestait même pas
ni ne s’énervait quand tu prenais ses jouets
ou quand tu t’appuyais sur lui pour te mettre debout
il s’appelait Salim
sa maman, Joséphine, une femme résignée
elle a goûté comme moi l’amertume
quand j’ai su que son père
l’avait kidnappé
le jetant au loin chez la grand-mère
j’ai pleuré pour lui
je ne savais pas à ce moment-là
que je versais mes premières larmes
sur toi
Maram Al-Masri, Le Rapt (Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2015)
Maram Al-Masri, born in Lattakia, Syria, moved to France after completing English Literature studies at Damascus University. She received the Prix d’Automne de Poésie (Société des Gens De Lettres), Adonis Prize, and the Dante Alighieri Prize. Her books include Cerise rouge sur un carrelage blanc, Elle va nue la liberté, and Le Rapt.
Hélène Cardona’s books include Life in Suspension, Dreaming My Animal Selves and the translations Birnam Wood by José Manuel Cardona (Salmon Poetry), Beyond Elsewhere (Gabriel Arnou-Laujeac, White Pine Press), Ce que nous portons (Dorianne Laux, Éd. du Cygne), Walt Whitman’s Civil War Writings (WhitmanWeb). Her work has been translated into 16 languages.
Thank you for translating and sharing these. It is always a delight to hear a different voice, entering a somewhat alien space and knowing that our pain and our joys are the same.