Ma Vie. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
Ma Vie. (Translation) .
La grande poupee de mon corps
refuse de se lever.
Je suis le jouet des femmes.
Ma mere
me tenait en haut pous ses amies.
'Parle, parle, ' priait-elle.
Je faisais remuer ma bouche
mais des mots ne sortaient pas.
Ma femme assura que je n'etais pas laisse pour compte.
Je me couchais dans ses bras. 'Nous souffrons
de la maladie du soi, ' chuchotait-elle.
Et moi je m'y allongeais muet.
Maintenant ma fille
me donne une infirmiere en plastique
remplie de l'eau.
'tu es mon vrai bebe, ' dit-elle.
Pauvre enfant!
Je regarde aux miroirs
bruns de ses yeux
et je me vois
diminuer, en coulant en bas
a une profondeur qu'elle ne sait pas est la.
Hors d'haleine,
je ne monterai pas encore.
Je me grandis dans ma mort.
Ma vie est petite
et elle diminue. Le monde est vert.
Rien n'est tout.
-' My Life'. Mark Strand (1934-2014) .
'My Life' is about the strong feminine influence in the poet's life: as a child with his mother; as a husband with his assured wife, and as the loving father of his daughter, who is quite playful. The poet felt slightly dominated by these women. Other poets are more influenced by male figures.
This is a partly autobiographical poem. Mark Strand was married to Antonia Ratensky, between 1961-1973, so he would have been alone for about forty years after that. A serious, searching poet of modernity, Mark Strand died in Brooklyn, New York City, in 2014.
Quotations by Mark Strand:
'The future is always beginning now'.
' Each moment is a place you've never been'.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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8/29/2026 4:52:19 AM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
