Jean-Pierre Chambon
trans. by Peter Brown and Caroline Talpe
THREE POEMS
[The puddle opens its eye wide]
The puddle opens its eye wide
where the memory of rain dazzles
splashed with light and mud
my reflection drowns in the flooded rut
after the downpour leaves the gaping tracks
of its mystery upon the earth
[In the hollow of the night everything sleeps]
In the hollow of the night everything sleeps
at times a sound like intermittent breathing
a sequence of hushed creaking
intrudes upon the humming fridge
but in the deep dark of the hallway
a speck of luminescence
whose source remains unknown persists
[despite her dread of insects]
Despite her dread of insects
the little girl
came out this evening in the heat wave
to attend the consumption of mayflies
a hallucination of raging snowflakes
encircling the lamppost
and covering the cobblestone
Jean-Pierre Chambon is the author of more than twenty books, stories, and poetry collections. He co-edits the magazine Voix d'encre.
Peter Brown has published three books of poetry in translation, including a French co-translation of the collected poems of David Ferry. His collection of short stories, A Bright Soothing Noise (UNT Press, 2010), won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize.
Caroline Talpe is a Franco-American translator. A French co-translation of the collected poems of David Ferry, Qui est là? (La Rumeur Libre) appeared in 2018. A chapbook of the complete poems of Arthur Gold was published in France in 2022.