Sylvain Gerard . work 6 – the faun with the little chair

   Flew  
the young man with the cigarette
in this imbroglio of stairs
without the step appearing
in exchange for a small chair
sit it down what will people say
with his long fingers
throw the derision
sparingly
Trojan horse
break and enter
vincent's room
down the hall of expectations
the cat jumps on the table
hug the child's neck
severing with a terminal glance
the game of a thousand and one temptations
breaking nights oven
raised trembling
the paddle wheel of renewals
in the cool morning
nevertheless cauterized
buttercups of these thoughts
with haunting breath
waivers
at dock
without the train tearing the air
of its invertebrate stridency
accumulation of combustion waste
for in part
renew the ardent bending of the faun
in front of the chanting virgin.

Behind the window
winter trees
avoided deciding on the spot
words of love from a bygone past.


330

sylvain gerard . work 5 – the lost child of the caravanserai

 At the edge of the dream   
the father
hold out your hand
the mother
hands behind the back
the dog
close the trail
the child
hides.

In the distance a Dutch mill
first floor
the apartments are open
the columns support the arches
a milky white covers the walls
the horse is ready.

One !
monte
erase the treats
with a gesture
don't hold back death
be the wind in the cool of the clear morning
be the glower of your space
hiccups life
vermilion with a spasm
be heaven in glory
my child
my diamond of the moment
at the corner of the lips
point of smile
just the occasion for a cavalcade
just the friction with the eternal.

lightning bolt
you know the way
slowly
except for the interdicts
inclinations of the shadows.

Be
frozen at the calvary of the married
the target of truths
this piece of velvet
where to lay your head
eye to eye
before the tear.


317

An ash tree should be planted

 took a walk   
 Sur le chemin entre les blés   
 Piquetés de coquelicots, blueberries and daisies   
 Houppes céréalières  
 Que le vent peignait,    
 D'amples ondulations,    
 Vagues d'un océan bruissant
 Exhaussant le vert tendre des épis.   

 There was the gift of self   
 L'abandon à la nature   
 La vie dans son mystère   
 En sa sainte coquille   
 Au gré du sourire d'un soleil   
 Clignant des nuages   
 À mesure de son avancée.   

 There was the anchor   
 De la maison de pierres noires  
 Vaisseau familial arrimé 
 En bout d'horizon   
 Derrière la ruine des Matillou.
  
 there was heat   
 Du grand'père   
 Des parents   
 Des enfants    
 Tissant    
 Les paroles de sieste   
 Entre journal et tricot.   
      
 " Il faudrait planter un frêne pour avoir de l'ombre. "  

 It was done.   


329

Les cinq plumes de l’ange

 En descendant l'escalier  
 white marks on the glass   
 nightly posed in address.  
    
 Excluded from infinity   
 against space   
 vain forms of encounter   
 me font   
 extreme coldness   
 the pebbles of humility   
 stored in the box of secrets. 
     
 abandoned   
 and sign the route   
 in rainy weather   
 disheveled hair   
 make me angel feathers   
 through the porch   
 endless waiting.    
  
 Gather my tinsel   
 vêture divine   
 pour cacher ces blessures   
 I'm rebuffed   
 repressed, pixelated  
 out of transparent water   
 my only mirror. 
     
 I had done well   
 beautiful weddings were promised   
 my father would pick mushrooms   
 my mother would go around the church   
 my sisters in corsets dressed   
 would be the charm and the cure   
 on our carnival float.   
   
 Then came the verdict   
 shattered against the glass   
 the five feathers of the angel in reflection   
 marquant l'absorption par le néant   
 only the bottom of the pans remained   
 to scour for the expected dish   
 d'une l'enfance retrouvée.  

     ( photo by Caroline Nivelon ) 
 
327

face look

   face look   
call to those who come from the sea
raise the capital of ourdied knowledge,
to the one who breaks the mirror
will give back
in their place
old music,
chilly chords
shadow and light,
from dawn to dusk,
barefoot on wet sand,
my soul so soon come,
already gone,
golden arabesque,
I reach out my hand to the wind of expectations,
my little man,
sweet grassland flower of childhood.



328

in the forest of beautiful light

   Loose weeding   
stuck in the lock
in the vestibule of expectations
sweep away thoughts
without permissiveness.

long filaments
descending from the antlers
pendent last verbiage
the frills of excess
regurgitating childhood moments.

Sabir époumoné
against the wall of Thérèse's castles
the cries and bumps are gathered
at the stake
vain pleas.

in a thousand ways
ceremonial dress
swells before the storm
bubbles burst so soon
for obsolete protection.

frost point
just the novel of secret things
in front of eyes burned with Armenian paper
where to gird with light
late-comer nudity
this effort to share the necessary
this moment of doubt
in the hollow of escheat
this embodied journey of writing last.


326

Clean ripples

 Clean ripples  
 minuet on the carpet of dreams  
 the organist weighs down his notes  
 dust lifting  
 lace accumulation  
 middle break-in  
 from these places  
 rattling offer  
 of a moment of doubt  
 sitting on the stone bench  
 set back from the arm of the sea.  

 I hesitate and pray  
 in a hybrid way  
 we conjugated  
 the use of words  
 with the passage of time  
 tender scratch  
 offered in derision  
 to the overwhelming experience  
 full and loose  
 between flesh and moss.  


325

the shadows are us

   The shadows are us  
parents at the extremes
children in the middle.

And then molehills
a white blue sky
an outstretched hand
sharp index finger
that's where we're going
without a shadow of a doubt
if not us
the image makers
on the margins of a je ne sais quoi.

wise lines
muted colors
force from left to right
a hallelujah
with bare branches
of a sweet day .

By measured gradations
join beauty and zeal
of what grows on the edge of truth
of what is there
in the meridian moment.


324

wise romp

   Remove the barrels from the forest     
clear the space of light
for limit crossed
leave the tree
erase our memories.
Advance at dusk
close to a night of audacity
accustomed
grope for the nave of prayers
rise in perfection.
Loaded with memories
on the sunbeam
on a vibrant morning
count the specks of dust
twirling in the half-open shutters.

Gambade
piano didgeridoo
honey melody
witch encounter
dance of bygone times
elves and trolls
mingling with ocean scents
spin the wind
over the horizon
the rain claps
animal scrabble
churns at night
failed orders
often the rebellion
things so long contained
creeping advance
between gorse and broom
the walls open
spin the wind
hollowing out space
spin the wind
chasing seeded bubbles
spin the wind
in its royal momentum
spin the wind
terminal rustle
spin the wind
before the great silence.


323

Door to door with a sunbonnet

   She had put on her hat   
curtly
and took the door.

Since,
silence,
commemoration in times of crisis
small chip on the cup
the light bulb flashes
we are at the end of the line
I opened the bread drawer
cut myself a slice of bread
butter and cheese
way to pass the pill.

The clock strikes five o'clock
the day will appear only in three hours
take a book
until fatigue comes.

The stove still warm
in the dark
on which simmers leftover soup
a moth wakes up
to bump into the bulb.

She had put on her hat
curtly
and took the door.

On the big table
his collages
his thirty year life
his piled up sufferings
a look of a lost doe
an eye-popping landscape
I crumple it all
it wakes up the cat
waddling towards his croquettes.

Often
seems that the adventure
go through the break
that we cross without looking back
offered to the shivering night
ash animated by a breath.

Quickly,
close the door
the room cools down
put a log in the hearth.

She had put on her hat
curtly
and took the door.


322

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