Lise Deharme trans. by Emilie Moorhouse
Winter 2023 | Poetry
Curieuse / Curious
Curieuse
Tes cheveux sont des araignées noires et griffues
ton front un désert de sable blond
ton nez une vague de son
tes dents ont faim
ta bouche est fine
ton menton
une colline aiguë
mais tes yeux sont deux cratères
de lave et de gouffres ouverts
semés d'étincelles et de feu
Tes yeux sont deux mondes perdus.
Curious
Your hairs are like clawed black spiders
your forehead a blond desert of sand
your nose a soundwave
your teeth are hungry
your mouth is thin
your chin
a sharp hill
but your eyes are two craters
of lava and open chasms
sown with sparks and fire
Your eyes are two lost worlds
Lise Deharme (1898 – 1980) was a French writer associated with the Surrealist movement.
Emilie Moorhouse lives in Montreal, Canada where she works as a teacher, writer, translator, and environmentalist. She is the translator and co-editor of Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems of Joyce Mansour.