Long Trop Poems

Translation of the Elegy: On Marceline Desbordes-Valmore - À L'amour - Poem by Marcel Moreau Translated by T. Wignesan

Reprends de ce bouquet les trompeuses couleurs,      (Take back the dubious colours...

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Translation of Eric Mottram’s Courbet: Elegy 8 by T. Wignesan

Blanches oeuvres ouvertes
résident dans les jours
la surface du banc de travail est noire
les géraniums-lierres
les fougères et les adragans
accumulent leurs oeuvres et jours:
La toile noire de Courbet
un...

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Translation of « On est les oubliés » (They/We are the neglected and forgotten lot)
by the songster-poet Gauvin SERS
(For the last two years, this young unassuming Frenchman, full of verve and disarming airs has been...

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L'Assimilation – Non! Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “Assimilation – No !” by T. Wignesan

Born Kathleen Jean Mary RUSKA on November 3, 1920, in the North Stradbroke Island, off Queensland, she was deemed as an aboriginal...

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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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It’s like being hit by a meteor
Where there’s no tomorrow
It is like doomsday, really
Where everything is ugly
And absolutely nothing is pretty
I just received the bad news
That my sister-in-law had died
Suddenly and extemporaneously
Without being sick tremendously
I...

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Translation of Eric Mottram’s KRIM: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY TO SEPTEMBER 1989 - II by T. Wignesan

( This poem is from the collection, ESTUARIES: Poems 1989-91. Twickenham: Solaris, 1992, 62p. Pub. by Yasmin and Peterjon Skelt. Back...

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Les Protecteurs – Translation of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s “The Protectors” by T. Wignesan

(Note: Oodgeroo never claimed to write poetry à la manière des poètes occidentaux; she said - without mincing words – her lines were sheer...

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Translated: Si la vie demande ça by Laura and Chris Mayne by T. Wignesan.

If Life would not wish it otherwise
 
[Note: The two sister French Caribbean-Martinique Black “Blues” Swan : Laura and Chris MAYNE (lyrics...

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No one in this morning
The road is deserted,
It's too early under the gray sky,

The veins of my hands,
Salient hands on the wheel
The look Elevated

The white line scrolls,
The colored houses, fled,
Since the curves crossed,

Creeks glimpsed,
The white...

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If the book is too heavy,
and low light,
Then I close my eyes
on the show pages.

What happens in it?
I do not know yet
that reserve
detours of history.

It takes place without me.
These are secret stories
which other
can access.

Meanwhile here...

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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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I can’t stop thinking,
That the earth is round, round
Like African women,
That the seagulls are white,
That dogs are crazy,
They bark at poets, writers,

I can’t stop thinking,
That the sun is a guitar
Who plays in the summer, in...

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I tried, I tried
To stop loving you
I cried, I cried
For being too crazy about you.

You never loved me
You take me for granted
You thought I was demented
You never cared for me
Yet, my love for you
Was unconditional
And...

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He searches in the shady sides,
traces of vanished light,
a drift of the felt,
all of nuances and transitions.

Perhaps is it too early;
cold dawn maintains suspended
the pulsation of the heart,
spreading the ashes,
incomprehension of lack,
in the slow progress...

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Can intimacy be labeled as de trop?
I don't think. My sister offers me critique
Of such silly actions! But I still crave more!
Our nights together were just majestique.

Before heading out we take aperitif
By the pool, in...

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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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I would stay for hours,
Waiting for a nice bee to land,
On the small purple flowers of a fuchsia, or heather,
I would wait for hours,
As if the future of the planet depended on it,
I would stay...

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I write the sadness of the Brazilian forests, 
About modern centuries and glass cities,
Tattooed Indians who are murdered too,
For a handle of gold or green diamond,

I write the greatness of Brazilian forests
Roots that descend to...

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En suivant le fil allongé de l'attirance pour elle,
Je me mis à une randonnée cherchante en dépit du ciel bas.
Tout à coup, il faisait de l'orage. La pluie torrentielle
Et le courant d'air houleux comme de...

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Adieu Ma Dear

Puisque tu es arrivée 
     trop tard dans cette vie
En trainant trop dans l’autre
			dans l’oubli

Arrivée seulement
	             ...

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e temps passe rapidement
Et vient le temps des decisions 
Faut-il quitter ou le Liban
Ou rester a la maison ?
Faut-il travailler
ou continuer mes etudes a l'universite?
je ne sais pas quoi decider
mon cerveau ne peut plus fonctionner
2016,...

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Une grande armée de moi!


 J'ai été debout où tu m'as laissé
 Priant pour que tu viennes me chercher 
Mais maintenant, j'ai trouvé mon souffle blessé 
Et ma seconde peau qui est déchirée 


Eh bien,...

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La Paix et le Désert – Translation of Kevin Gilbert’s « Peace and the Desert » by T. Wignesan

Pendant que la braise du campement de feu scintille
J’entendis l’appel
du courlis annonçant la naissance
ou la mort de...

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On the tides of words,
The eyes too light,
In the running of zebras,
I’m looking for it,

Under the wool, night dreams,
On the precious jewels,
The faces without worries,
I’m still looking for it,

On the torn heart,
By the Mayan treasures,
On...

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