Thursday, May 03, 2007
Metropolitan Poetry
In one of those "aww - what a nice gesture" kind of initiatives, a publishing house AND the subway transit system of a certain northern town I am always somewhat depressed to loiter in, have joined forces to promote the works of a veritable myriad of POETS - and this way before they are all six feet under too! Aye, usually, genius and artistic merit is mostly appreciated post-humously - not any other way around! That is very regrettable indeed - and this initiative (not one, not two but three years in the running) has made accessible to the masses the works of many elegant wordsmiths that would have not be as widely known otherwise...
Each day, a different poem was spotlighted in the subway system's many electronic boards (there are at least two per wagon, I do believe... Just like in Paris' metro! This initiative was indeed a joint effort with Paris, promoting the French language in the process - that should clue you in furthermore on what northern town's subway this all took place...!)
Quelques (some) EXTRAITS (excerpts):
elle a demandé d'où vient le vent elle a dit
donne-moi la main la lumière est là
devant
ANDRÉ DUHAIME
D'HIER ET DE TOUJOURS
ÉDITIONS DAVID
il a dit que l’aube est une luciole dans le vent
qui tourne à l’orage sur la mer • il a dit
sois vivante on donne un peu de l’univers
en donnant de soi
LAURE MORALI
LA TERRE CET ANIMAL
ÉDITIONS MÉMOIRE D’ENCRIER
clarté suspendue accrochée aux arbres
pour les faire chanter avec incidence • tout
est découpé mon émoi fait partie du décor
FULVIO CACCIA
AKNOS
ÉDITIONS GUERNICA
quel paysage serein tu as conçu
dans le jardin • des torches de bambou
en attente d’une vigie pour voir jusqu’où
peut aller la nuit… • tout part du cœur
oui je sais
ANDRÉE LACELLE
LA LUMIÈRE ET L'HEURE
ÉDITIONS VERMILLON
Adage - Danielle Shelton éditrice ©
All the above excerpts came under the third phase of this program - which was topically set under the umbrella of "LUMIÈRE" - in other words, LIGHT! Now that sure is one of my favorite topics right there...! ;)
(I encourage you all to make use of Babel Fish "technology" to try and translate these verses above - and those below - if you do not master FFL (French Frog Lingo!) yet! It will get you the gist of it - the essence of the message, at least?)
The previous two stages were HOPE (L'ESPOIR) and JOY (LA JOIE) - both of which saw the totality of the poems used collected in a tome published in France by publisher "Le Temps des Cerises" (uh... Cherry Season? Sometimes translating brand names is not such a good idea...!) - but here is the original announcement: L'ESPOIR et LA JOIE sont distribués en France par Le Temps des Cerises - le-temps-des-cerises@wanadoo.fr
LUMIÈRE's turn should come soon enough - by far, it was the most impressive collection of thoughts-in-writ that I have noticed upon my rare subway rides...
Each time I did ride the subway though, I made sure to peek at the Alstom electronic board to see what was "on" that day... News and poetry, as always - oh, and a lot of ads with rather annoying animation!
To partake of that wonderful job that I found in marketing, I did ride the subway a trifle more often than usual - it took me back to my days as a student; THAT was fun. Plus the paycheck is always welcomed...! Thus, I took note of more poems that way...
None was more impressive for me than the following one (that I jotted down from memory) - I saw it on a grey morning one day and it lifted me up for the entire day...
"C'est ainsi -
nos corps laissent des traces imperceptibles sur la Terre
mais nos voix seront source de lumière
pour les dormeurs planétaires."
SYLVIE NICOLAS
DES JUPONS D'HISTOIRE, p.103
ÉCRITS DES FORGES
Mme. Nicolas is a fine and refined plume as they say...
Verily, I tell you, it inspired me my own bit of poetry that day
And I verse poetic only occasionally - yes, quite rarely these days...
"Incandescence, patience illuminée
Chacun de nous a son long cheminement bien à soi
Nul ne sait où cela va le mener
tant partisans du toi, du moi que ceux de la foi
mais tous savent dans leur fort intérieur
quel est le but ultime - des mondes, le meilleur
C'est l'Incandescence Illuminée."
LUMINOUS PRODUCTIONS
Labels: Lumière, poésie, poetry, poezia
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