Tuesday 25 February 2014

Pierre Reverdy: Slippage


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File:Slate Macro 1.JPG

A piece of slate: photo by Jon Zander, 2007


On each slate
..............that slipped from the roof
....................someone
..................had written
..............................a poem



The gutter's lined with diamonds
.......................the birds sip them


 
 
Pierre Reverdy (1889-1960): "Sur chaque ardoise...": from Les Ardoises du Toit (1918), trans. TC


File:St Fagans Tannery 7.jpg

Slate roof, Tannery, St. Fagans: photo by Zureks, 2007 (Wales National Museum, Cardiff)



Sur chaque ardoise
...................qui glissait du toit
................................on
.........................avait écrit
....................................un poème



La gouttière est bordée de diamants
.............................. les oiseaux les boivent




File:Egon Schiele 019.jpg

Windows: Egon Schiele, 1914 (Österreichische Galerie, Wien)



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7 comments:

  1. Poet Red Shuttleworth25 February 2014 at 01:39

    MARVELOUS!!!!

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  2. ACravan25 February 2014 at 02:14

    This is a real gem, a rare example of positive slippage. Reverdy was and remains a revelation to me. The roof slates on the house we live in resemble the roof slates on the tannery and research makes it seem possible that our flock of bluebirds may just hang around. No slate slippage lately (thank heaven), so we can't be sure if anything's written on them. Curtis

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  3. Michael Peverett25 February 2014 at 02:32

    Thank you - an education, as always...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nin Andrews25 February 2014 at 03:53

    Oh, that is nice! I esp. love the last image--Windows by Egon Shiele.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mose2325 February 2014 at 11:48

    Very lovely.

    Whenever I read a Reverdy Poem, I remember I was shown there by Frank O'Hara:

    My heart is in my pocket. It is poems by Pierre Reverdy.

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  6. vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)26 February 2014 at 04:51

    Ah, Pierre
    Reverdy, pure

    Reverie.

    ReplyDelete
  7. TC27 February 2014 at 05:18

    Many thanks all.

    For me Reverdy has always been a reminder of the spiritual presence in poetry, whatever that spirit is that moves through our lines and lives, when the business and traffic are done -- or not.

    ReplyDelete