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Le Gommier De La Municipalite - Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Municipal Gum Tree By T Wignesan
Le Gommier De La Municipalite - Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Municipal Gum Tree By T Wignesan
Le gommier de la Municipalite - Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Municipal Gum Tree by T Wignesan
[Automatic re-translation into English edited for effect...]
Le gommier qui se trouve sur la rue de la ville,
Le bitume autour de tes pieds,
Il vaudrait mieux que tu sois
Dans le monde des espaces fraiches entouré d’arbres feuillus
de la forêt
Et des chants des oiseaux sauvages.
Ici tu me parais
Comme ce pauvre cheval de trait-là
Castré, démoli, une chose écartée et damnée,
Harnaché et bouclé, c’est l’enfer prolongé,
Dont la tête baissée et le mien fade exprime
L’espoir à jamais perdu.
Le gommier de la ville, c’est douloureux
De t’apercevoir ainsi
Figé dans ta pelouse noircie de bitume –
O concitoyen,
Qu’est-ce qu’ils ont fait de nous?
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2016
Copyright © T Wignesan | Year Posted 2016
Le gommier de la Municipalite - Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Municipal Gum Tree by T Wignesan
Gum tree sitting on the street of the city,
Bitumen around your feet,
It would be better if you were in the world of cool spaces
Surrounded by leafy trees of the forest
And the songs of wild birds.
Here you recall
That poor draft horse
Castrated, demolished, a thing spread-eagled and damned,
Harnessed and shackled.
This is prolonged hell,
And whose head downcast, bland mien expressing hope forever lost.
Gum tree of the city, it's painful
To see you thus
Frozen in your turf, blackened with bitumen –
O! fellow citizen!
What did they do with us?
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2016
Copyright © T Wignesan | Year Posted 2016
Copyright © T Wignesan | Year Posted 2021
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