Samira Negrouche
trans. by Nancy Naomi Carlson
Excerpts from Quay 2 1
I barely move along
my footsteps suspended
on the oily surface
or it’s the quay
that moves
breaks loose
drifts away
on the leathery skin
the indomitable skin
with reflections of silver
or it’s my gaze
that glides
gets closer to
the quay
brings me closer
to the quay
***
I go naked
in the onion fields
and in the lush jungle
in the underworld
of Mexico
Ouagadougou
and Aden
I go naked
my joints moving freely
my back straight
I sway
my back confident
my neck light
my neck taut
***
Daylight arrives
in my precocious eyes
an insane person dances
in my eyes
makes my hand
wobble
on the air sailing
in the sky
that’s easy to paint
an insane person dances
or I dance
when the circle opens
***
When the circle opens
you quiver inside
you through whom time
stops
you who have passed through
time
may your curve
smooth out
at daybreak
***
May the new wind
blow
may the murmur announce itself
quiver outside
may your face
pass through
all
light
***
Let the wind
sculpt your eyelids
the day’s clamor
inhabit your breath
let your chest
welcome the echo
let your body
regain its rhythm
let it
***
may the gaze
pass through
may the hand
pass through
may the voice
pass through
may the gaze
pass through
may the hand
pass through
may the voice
pass through
open.
My lips even
have seen you arrive in the distance
the crackling of leaves
behind my neck
the horizon
stretches
the bridges come in succession
they straddle me
the arcs straddle me
***
you split the span
the span of the arc
the span of the bridge
you straddle me
in the distance
arch all around me
even my lips
have seen you arrive in the distance
***
the breach becomes a sphere
when it topples
when it approaches
when it shoves
the sphere expands
even my lips
even my lips
in the distance
***
you arrive
around
the sphere
expands
time
expands
the oily surface
expands
even my lips
my lips
in the distance
***
the tree trunks blush
in the distance
you go past the boats
I go past the trees
the sails unfurl
even my lips
even my lips
around
it won’t be too late
you arrive
in the distance
it won’t be too late
***
I see you
the dream
the attraction
awakens
the faraway nights
when on the oily surface
the faraway night
expands
you don’t tremble
I no longer tremble
***
something quivers
that is
you’re not late
my lips even
in the distance
quiver
from time
from time
that expands
still
Samira Negrouche is a poet and translator from Algiers. The author of seven poetry collections and several artists’ books, she is involved in various multidisciplinary projects. Her poems have been translated into over twenty languages, and one book was a finalist for the National Translation Award. Her collaborations include Quai 2|1 with violinist Marianne Piketty and theorbist Bruno Helstroffer, from which the included excerpts have been selected.
Nancy Naomi Carlson’s translation of Khal Torabully’s Cargo Hold of Stars: Coolitude (Seagull, 2021) won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. A poet and essayist, she has authored twelve titles (eight translated), including An Infusion of Violets (Seagull, 2019), her second full-length poetry collection, which was named “New & Noteworthy” by The New York Times. A recipient of two translation grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, she is the Translations Editor for On the Seawall.