Photograph by Claude Truong-Ngoc

Poems from Ceux qui se taisent published by Bruno Doucey

‍Chronicle of a village in times of crisis

1‍

They sit under the mulberry tree
and converse without chattering

The sun is never so beautiful
than in its shadow

Words are never so strong
than in silence

‍2‍

A woman dressed in black
laughs with all the teeth
that she has lost

Her scabbed apple face
says one thing
and tells another

‍13‍

He turned off the television
sickened

Really
Europe

He went outside
and sat before his door

The stars were already shining in the sky

He looked for the ones he knew
and named them one by one

Above him
between two clouds
the consternation of Taurus

‍19‍

In winter
many come to watch
the television in the tavern
Between two news bulletins
they talk about the things of life

In summer
the same sit
in the shadow of an old wall
Their silences suggest
the distant rumour of the world

Seven poems translated from Greek by the summer wind

1‍

In this land
the shadow of melancholy
sits at the tavern

It smokes little
but slowly drinks the raki of silence

Outside
freedom grows impatient
and flies away

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