Batiment A Une Petite Cuisine. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
Batiment A Une Petite Cuisine. (Translation) .
Nous sommes des choses des heures seches et du plan involontaire,
Grises dedans, et gris. 'Reve' fait un son vertigneux, pas fort
Comme 'loyer', 'nourissant une femme', 'satisfaisant un homme'.
Mais est-ce qu'un reve pourrait faire monter par des vapeurs d'oignon
Son blanc et violet, avoir affaire aux pommes de terre frites
Et les dechets d'hier murissant dans le vestibule,
Voleter, ou chanter une aria en bas a cote de ces salles
Meme si nous etions disposes a lui permettre d'entrer,
Nous avions le temps de la rechauffer, la tenir tres propre,
Anticiper un message, la laisser commencer?
Nous nous demandons. Mais pas bien! pas une minute!
Puisque numero cinq est hors de la salle de bains maintenant,
Nous pensons a l'eau tiede, esperant d'y entrer.
-1945.
- 'Kitchenette Building'.Gwendolyn Brooks(1917-2000) .
Their life in apartment building seems gray, not exciting. They have to think more about paying the rent and earning money for food, before such a concept of 'dream'. She has to be practical, not a dreamer. The second and third stanzas are one long, complex sentence of some virtuosity. Could they allow a dream to enter through onion fumes while she is trying to fry potato chips, and they kept it clean, let it begin? The answer is 'no'.
The fifth one has had a bath now, and she thinks of lukewarm water and hopes to get in it. My own family used to have an arrangement like this for having a bath, one after the other in the same water.
The poem paints a realist picture of life in a confined apartment building, where there is no scope to have a dream.
In the four stanzas, the first and third(or fourth)lines rhyme. I found this an enjoyable poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/19/2024 4:08:38 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Michael, please accept my sincere thanks for making us familiar with the poetic skills of this remarkable poet. The down to earth persona of the poet does greatly impress. Your Notes take stock of the situation with a personal touch.
Youmake acute observations on the poem, and the poet. I agree, Gwendolyn Brooks is is an outstanding p[oet and person. She deserved to win the Pulitzer Prize. Thanks for noticing.