Canari.(Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
Canari.(Translation) .
La voix brulee de Billie Holiday
avait autant d'ombres que lumieres,
un candelabra contre un piano luisant'
le gardenia sa signature sous ce visage ruine.
(Maintenant tu fais la cuisine, le batteur a la basse,
le cuiller magique, l'aiguille magique.
Prends toute la journee s'il te faut
avec ton miroir et ton bracelet de chanson.)
La verite, c'est l'invention des femmes en etat de siege
ait ete arendre plus marque l'amour au service du mythe.
Si tu ne peux etre libre, sois un mystere.
- 'Canary'. Rita Dove b.1952.
The poem is about the American jazz singer, Billie Holiday (1915-1959) who had a very successful career singing in nightclubs and making records. Her real name was Eleanora Fagan. She was known familiarly as 'Lady Day'. Her big problems were alcohol abuse and drugs, mainly heroin and cocaine, which created 'that ruined face'. 'Magic spoon, magic needle'. For women like Billie, under siege, the public feels sympathy for them and their love creates a myth. In death, she is an enigma. It would be interesting to compare Holiday with Whitney Houston, another singer whose life and voice were ruined by drugs-marijuana and cocaine.
Billie's autobiography 'Lady Sings The Blues' was ghostwritten by William Dufty in 1956. A movie based on this book, with the same title 'Lady Sings The Blues', was made into a hugely successful movie, starring Diana Ross, making its premiere in 1972. Diana Ross proved her acting ability in the bio, although she was already a superstar singer.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
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8/28/2026 8:31:44 PM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
I don't feel as if I have to be that yet, Michael.
Nor do I. Never even seen an illegal drug.