Do Not Be Discouraged

Poets, do not be discouraged, neither young nor old, Uncertain verses can pierce stone, or iron, Just believe those you love you, endure the headwinds, To think that at the end of the sea there is America and its buffalos, Just cross rivers with dangerous Indians, The Amazon, the White Nile, or the great Mississippi, are friends, Poet, do not be discouraged, do not deviate, In front of Whitman shining in the diamond sky, Follow your path, on the great snowy plains, Follow your path, in the villages of Lower Brittany, In the hotels of Sichuan, or Manaus, Warm your heart in Calypso’s arms, Think of Circe whose beauty poisoned Ulysses Poet falls in love with the sea, the stars, Do not be discouraged, Poet, you can be still and quiet like water, or You can become a torrent in the mountains of Wyoming, A verse is always an object of the future, “Drop by drop, water pierces the stone.” (1) NB (1) From Lucrèce in Montaigne les essais