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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

[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

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