Long Nuit Poems

You’ll be a man tomorrow, child, yes,
If you respect animals and pristine nature,
If you don’t kill elephants for ivory,
If you don’t kill the whales for soap,

You’ll be a man if you can stop time
If you...

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Translation of YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG
By T. Wignesan
(Written by : Herbert Kretzmer)

(Variously sung in a host of styles, moods and orchestration by
exquisite soul-movers like Roberta Flack, Shirley Bassey, Charles Aznavour, Glen Campbell, Andy Williams,...

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Autumn Leaves/Les feuilles mortes de Jacques PREVERT (1900-77) 
Translated by T. Wignesan 

(Note: As far as I can make out, this poem is at the heart of all versions of « The Autumn Leaves "...

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Claquée j’ai quitté mon lit douillé 
J’ai peur de sombrer dans ma tête souillée 
Dans mes rêves je suis toujours exilée 
Je n’ai jamais trouvé le sommeil espéré  
J’ai savouré le mal qui me...

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Ne soyons pas rancunier – Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “Let us not be bitter” by T. Wignesan

(Note : The fiery fearless rebel of Where we going (1964) and The Dawn is at Hand (1966) –...

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Le Courlis poussa des cris -Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal's The Curlew Cried by T Wignesan


 (Note d’Oodgeroo : Le courlis fut le frère d’aborigènes. Il venait trois nuits de suite pour pousser des cris près...

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Le vieil identique problème – Translation of Kevin Gilbert’s « Same Old Problem » by T. Wignesan

(For Kevin Gilbert – cf. the introduction to Inside Black Australia (1988) – as quite obviously for Oodgeroo, too...

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There are things, Gaëlle, that are pretty good
Say hello to her mom every day,
Say hello to the nice weather vane,
Listen to the trains in the countryside,

There are things Gaëlle, that are so nice
Photograph the Statue...

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A Soulful Cry of Anguish against Fate

(“The Tale of the Lonely Ghost”, a film (2013) by ANUP SINGH - who collaborated on the screenplay as well, an Indian, a Sikh born in Dar-es-Salaam but settled...

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GOOD TIME ( translated in  two other languages)
Good time lies in onerous tracts
Where the minds reject
It shelters in a solitary world
Fidgets like a hovering danger
Reluctance, the only neighbouring sister
Dominates the city


Good time lies in...

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C'est bientôt l’aube – Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “The Dawn is at Hand” by T. Wignesan

(Note : In this poem - the title poem of her second collection - Oodgeroo has come full circle, la...

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Klacatoo – Translation of Kevin Gilbert ‘s « Klacatoo » by T. Wignesan

On nous avait coincé sur la rive de Lachlan
un endroit qui s’appelle Klacatoo
là où nous rassemblions au coucher du soleil
quand nous entendions le...

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J'apprends le français en ce moment
parce que j'ai l'intention de voyager à Paris.
Je ne parle pas couramment le français.
J'ai découvert Le Lac il y a quelques années.

Par un mariage
Du côté de ma mère,
nous sommes liés...

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Bonne nuit, numbers and digits
Did you miss hearing the drunk specter sing?
Back to waffle again about their trauma and joy
Derek isn't even their real name

Where were you when the millennium turned?
I can't imagine it was...

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French Version -

Demain, dès l'aube by Victor Hugo

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m’attends.
J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de...

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I touched her hand and the warmth of her soul
rushed my veins like a mad river,
obliterating all doubts.
Would that I survive the tumult, the undying desire
to touch her skin again, even for a moment, to...

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And take the tasks in your own hands  the tasks of your own fate
      do not let the helper from elsewhere tell you what is best
   ...

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No, my friend Paul, it’s not about saying everything,
And we do not lack time,
But the point is to say what you love, to love what you say,
Like a saxophone solo in a New York club,

To...

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Où allons nous? Translation of Oodgeroo  Noonuccal’s “Where are we going” by T. Wignesan

Ils sont venus dans une petite ville
Une bande à moitié nue soumise silencieuse
Tout ce qui restait de leur tribu.
Ils sont venus...

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"Blue Avians and the Poetic State of Mind 

post apocalypse
the mother 
sought the assistance
of Blue Avians.

when it came to 
eggs stolen from a nest
who better than to 
seek the assistance 

of those ancient
wise creatures.
they had...

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Quand le jour se levera, la lumiere eclaira
la bonte divine nous reviendra et l'amour s'eclatera dans nous
voila les chemins menant de partout
les passagers et les amis de la mort sont la
les gardiens de la volonte...

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Nuit magique (Awesome Night)
Catherine Lara

(A lilting catchy French tune with a " barbed " message addressed to oneself or to any damsel in distress. Free translation by T. Wignesan)

Okay
Il n'y avait rien à faire (One...

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The sun plunged
In the space of silence,
The summer has been extended
In a slow wandering ...

The orb has been drunk,
Gradually, by fringes.
> We did not hear anything,
From the fall of the angel ...

The horizon has folded...

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(La ballade de) La femme Woor – Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “The Woor Woman” by T. Wignesan

Le chasseur Bhoori demandit de la colline,
Puisque le ciel à l’ouest était de rouge,
Et le monde entier devenait triste...

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(Victor Hugo fought against the dictator,
first on the barricades, then in scathing
poetry like this - "Souvenir de la nuit du 4".)

She took him to the hearth to warm him up, 
not noticing his legs, already...

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