Thursday, February 02, 2023

Poetry Friday: Feather

Feather

by Lew R. Sarett


High in the noon's bright bowl of blue

I saw an idling eagle tilt

His suave white wings.  As smooth he flew

As water flows on silt.


He wheeled; a feather from his wing

Fluttered from out the clean clear dome

And sank on the grassy carpeting,

Soft as a moth on foam. 


The rest is here.


And speaking of light and beautiful things like feathers, here's a song I found this week by Pat Kalla & Le Super Mojo. The lyrics, in French, are in the comments on the video. My favorite ones:


"Pleurer, c’est une rivière au fond des yeux qui déborde quand il pleut  

Pleurer, c’est dessiner la mélancolie avec un pinceau tout gris  

Pleurer, c’est déranger les anges qui dorment sous tes paupières  

Qui secouent leurs ailes toutes mouillées 

 Et vont au soleil se sécher..."

 

My translation:

 

"Crying is a river deep in the eyes that overflows when it rains

Crying is drawing melancholy with a gray paintbrush 

Crying is bothering the angels that are sleeping under your eyelids

That shake their wet wings

And go into the sun to dry themselves..."



Laura has this week's roundup.

11 comments:

Irene Latham said...

Your translation is gorgeous, Ruth. More please! xo

Janet said...

The feather poem -- what a soft, suggestive, whispery, kind of eerie atmosphere!

Kay said...

That feather poem is such a gentle whisper--just lovely

Linda B said...

"And no one caught the word" is rather haunting itself. I loved the similes in his poem, Ruth. Thanks for the song, a loving one that seems like a father to a child.

laurasalas said...

That poem feels so hyper-real somehow, and those lyrics! The angels under my eyelids are weeping a bit...Thank you, Ruth!

Patricia Franz said...

feather and tears - they seem to go together, both begging to be handled with care. Thank you, Tabitha.

Karen Eastlund said...

Love this! Brought back those French lessons. Thanks!!!

Robyn Hood Black said...

So lovely and poignant, both - Merci, Ruth!

Heidi Mordhorst said...

It must be nice to be keeping your eyes and ears open for feathers as well as birds...and nothing I love more than a post that comes with a song. I really miss French. Lovely translation!

author amok said...

I love that image of a feather fluttering out of the clean clear dome.

Fridays said...

Oh yes, super image I like;)