REINCARNATION
The forgotten dreamer in the garden
fades imperceptibly:
she merges with the bushes,
the birds there pose innocently.
The dreamer dissolves slowly,
arms-branches, flowers-pupils, dress-grass;
the bees whirl, flame,
barely disturbed by the underground breath.
The dreamer finishes fighting:
she cannot reopen her eyes
riveted by the neck of the sun.
One must not leave a woman alone in the garden.
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COLETTE NYS-MAZURE, born in Belgium in 1939, is a French-language poet who holds a master’s degree from the Catholic University of Louvain. She was also a professor of literature there from 1961 to 1999. She is additionally an essayist, news writer, and member of the Association of Belgian Writers of French Language. The following poem was originally published in the collection Feux dans la nuit, published in 2005 by Éditions Labor, Bruxelles.
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About the Translator:
SHANNON KELLY lives in Galway, Ireland. Her work has been published in Crannóg and The Irish Times, and she was the 2016 winner of the Allingham Festival Poetry Competition.