A translation of a pyramid poem by Québécois poet, writer, artist, and musician Raôul (or Raöul) Duguay. I’m not sure quite what to make of it, but I do like the chords and discords that result from reading it out loud. It comes across as a sort of Lucky’s speech from ‘Godot’ without any syntactical architecture!
oh ah ah mine thine yes no all nothing flower nettle bird viper universe cell order a disorder starfishy nebula atom bread butter fire air freedom water slavery sun field town alley plane earth globe lunar light garden shadow asphalt tree delight day night tear fear house table wheat room province state stone weather space particles east full love west empty hunger smile caress you him fear work luck spring someone theirs muscles iron foot hand breast sweet woman sex arms wife rock heart essence thirst faith flesh existence prison light summer leaf juice autumn plastic concrete mountain horse pathway valley car cement egg hatching health mother bomb blood scratch music star snow pine tree cry sleep twilight law color rhythm butterfly game earthworm grey speed stop wolfpack dance wave ocean shoreline salt accident face foam slide singing prayer speaking book sun machine radio television plan caress drawing line curve volume step building silver electricity go fruit vegetable milk honey cereals hot dog hamburger steak potatoes child woman beauty peace MAN MAN animal vegetable mineral moved
Due to the difficulty of having a poem formatted in HTML appear the same in all environments, we present an alternate version in image form below:
Here’s the original (not to be confused with another Duguay pyramid poem of the same title):
ô a a ma ta oui non tout rien fleur ortie oiseau vipère univers cellule ordre un désordre astérisme nébuleuse atome pain beurre feu air liberté eau esclave soleil champ ville ruelle planète terre globe lunaire lumière jardin ombre asphalte arbre joie jour nuit pleur peur maison table blé chambre province pays pierre temps espace poussières orient plein amour occident vide faim sourire caresse toi lui crainte travail bonheur printemps on eux muscles fer pied main sein femme bonté sexe bras femme roche coeur essence soif foi corps existence prison lumière feuille été jus automne plastique béton montagne cheval sentiers vallée automobile ciment oeuf éclosion santé maman bombe explosion sang bobo musique étoile neige sapin cri sommeil crépuscule loi couleur rythme papillon jeu ver gris vitesse stop meute danse vague océan rivage sel accident visage écume coulée chant prière parole livre sol machine radio télévision plancaresse dessin ligne courbe volume pas building argent électricité go fruit légume lait miel céréales hot dog hamburger steak patates enfant femme beauté paix HOMME HOMME animal végétal minéral mû
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- The Other (El Otro) by Rosario Castellanos
- Green Enchantment (Verde Embeleso) by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
- The discovery of things I’ve never seen: five poems by Oswald de Andrade
- A soft storm in the skull: three poems by Rubén Darío
- Eternity for an inheritance: eight poems by Amado Nervo
- Five translators, one poem: dreaming about caimans with José Santos Chocano
- Contrary Moon: three poems by Cecília Meireles
- Génesis doméstico / My Private Genesis by Teresa Calderón
- How to recognize the road: three more poems by Cecília Meireles
- Birds of smoke: two poems by José María Eguren
- Historia de mi muerte / Story of My Death by Leopoldo Lugones
- La blanca soledad / Pale Solitude by Leopoldo Lugones
- House without walls: two poems by Vinicius de Moraes
- Ajedrez / Chess by Jorge Luis Borges
- Where shall we go? (¿Can nelpa tonyazque?) by Nezahualcoyotl
- Four haiku and a severed head by Simone Routier
- Gotas de lluvia / raindrops: four more haiku and a tanka
- Sweet exiled words: two poems by José Luis Appleyard
- Pain without explanation: five poems by César Vallejo
- Si rigide le desert de l’Autre / So Rigid is the Desert of the Other by France Théoret
- Mapping a different star: five poems by Gabriela Mistral
- oh (ô) by Raôul Duguay
- Repetición de mi mismo / Repeating Myself by Ricardo Mazó
- Peuple inhabité / Population void by Yves Préfontaine
- Retrouvailles / Reunions by Anne Brunelle
- A genius for brevity: Alejandra Pizarnik
- Lo que soy / What I Am by Juana de Ibarbourou
- Emily Dickinson by Michel Garneau
- Intersections: reading, translation, writing
- Nameless as the rain: two poems by Jacques Brault
- Erasure translation of a poem by Jacques Brault
- Rafael Courtoisie’s Song of the Mirror (La canción del espejo): a videopoem by Eduardo Yagüe
- A glimpse from the gutter: three poems by Alejandra Pizarnik
- High Treason by José Emilio Pacheco
- Juarroz on waking up
- Under the Sky Born After the Rain, by Jorge Teillier
- To a Child in a Tree, by Jorge Teillier
- El hombre imaginario / The Imaginary Man by Nicanor Parra