jeudi 31 mai 2012

Poppies


The landscape suddenly
disappeared
behind a thousand cares
flocking together
before the minimal sun
and killing light
in the heart of the day

and you then left
slowly vanishing in their minds
a happy refrain
tenderly evoking
the subtle nights of childhood
when shadows were monsters
and stars
a million eyes
openly peeping at you
and blinking
through your dreams

Claude Lopez-Ginisty





mercredi 30 mai 2012

Attic


The old attic was emptied
a few weeks ago 
when nobody was present
it yielded
a harvest of sweet broken objects
that had been useless 
for quite a long time
sanctified by time 
and blessed by dust

the only way to indulge 
in a childish dream now
will be in past memories

through the open window
the world came in all of a sudden
making loss too visible

and the light that is shed 
on  the deserted attic
has lost its charm
and the magic power it had
to turn anything 
into some extraordinary treasure

Claude Lopez-Ginisty


mardi 29 mai 2012

Daybreak



They gathered at daybreak
saying they were now
putting aside all memories
of past wrongs
and old prejudices

grinning with refrained pain
they filled the air
with a strange fragrance
a mixture of silence 
and resentment

and when you kissed them 
a warm and friendly good morning
instead of lipstick 
on your cheeks
there was blood

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

lundi 28 mai 2012

I live in the 60's


I still live in the sixties
in an old building
with a broken lift
and a tender atmosphere

when friends visit me
climbing the stairs up
they are silent
either
because they are out of breath
or 
because they are not used
to climbing into the past
or
because they feel like
visiting a cathedral

nobody really knows

from the windows 
one can see landscapes
deprived of skyscrapers
yellow skies with sunsets
that seem like 
a hollywood scenery 

musics in the rooms of my house
are old-fashioned 
echoes of the tunes 
played on the Titanic 
before the shipwreck

and when friends ask me
why don't you move from here
to live in a modern flat
I give them a smart answer
in ancient Greek
and they leave puzzled

Claude Lopez-Ginisty





Smrt/死んだ




Lately they refreshed their dreams
with new ventures
gardens of black lilies
and new soft drinks
made of dew and honey

their next move was to invent
a special word for their wandering
and to have it accepted
by scholars in the middle ages

when they realized that their fame
was clinging to poison ivy
and deadly quicksand
they suddenly wanted to conform
but the army of their fellow clowns
had disappeared from their sight

and they ended up
faking a prayer

Claude Lopez-Ginisty





dimanche 27 mai 2012

Departure



They depart suddenly
like a diving sunset
in exotic countries
and their memories 
cling to our minds
but a tiny fraction of time

soon their faces melt
in the furnace of summer
with the painful oppression
of cicadas maiming silence

it takes a deep breath 
to deliver their eulogy
and a short sigh thereafter
to switch to another soul

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

vendredi 4 mai 2012

Private Fujiyama


When the Alps
pretend to imitate
the summit 
of the Fujiyama mountain

when you start
your pilgrimage 
to the deep North

you feel like Matsuo Bashō

and the landscape 
becomes 
a precious mine of haiku

Claude Lopez-Ginisty




jeudi 3 mai 2012

Snapshot




A grey photograph
from the good old days
is hurting my soul

remembrance of the dead
bitter-sweet tenderness
in the midst of Time

you do know this feeling
the frail hope of dawn
when night was gloomy

the only everlasting thing
is this shrine of the heart
where your memories pray

nothing is more certain
than the passing of Time
and the touch of Eternity

one knows perfectly well
that he is but a pilgrim
in the ante-room of death

and eternal life

Claude Lopez-Ginisty

mardi 1 mai 2012

Skylake


Visual echo
The sky and the lake are one
under the eye of the sun

Claude Lopez-Ginisty