Soir Tropical, and: Tropical Night
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Soir Tropical*, and: Tropical Night
SOIR TROPICAL*
Le soir est lumineux; le soir est tendre et beau.Le soleil s’est éteint; la lune est sur les roses.Une langueur pénètre au cœur même des choses …Et les grands palmiers noirs rêvent au bord de l’eau.
Les jasmins ont mêlé leurs branches étoiléesAux lianes en fleurs. L’haleine de 1’étéCaresse les fruits lourds. La grave voluptéLaisse trainer son voile au détour des allées.
Là-bas, sur le chemin, pas un chant, pas un bruit.Rien ne trouble la paix d’un bonheur qu’on écoute …Viens sentir les parfums sur le bord de la route,Et respirer mon âme éparse dans la nuit. [End Page 500]
TROPICAL NIGHT
The night is luminous; the night is tender and beautiful.The sun has obscured itself; the moon rests on the roses.A languor enters the very heart of things …And the tall black palms dream at the water’s edge.
The jasmines have mixed their star-studded branchesWith lianas in bloom. Summer’s breathCaresses the heavy fruit. The dense sensualityLets its long veil linger along the sinuous paths.
Over there, on the way, not a song, not a sound.Nothing disturbs the peace of a joy we listen to …Come take in the fragrances at the road’s edge,And breathe in my soul spread across the night. [End Page 501]
DANIELLE LEGROS GEORGES, a professor at Lesley University, is the poet laureate of the City of Boston. Her work has appeared in World Literature Today, Haiti Noir 2: The Classics (edited by Edwidge Danticat), Transition, SpoKe, and The Women’s Review of Books.
Footnotes
* Reprinted with permission from Jean Faubert <http://idafaubert.net>.
