25.12.2013 Views

Download (3398Kb) - ePrints Soton - University of Southampton

Download (3398Kb) - ePrints Soton - University of Southampton

Download (3398Kb) - ePrints Soton - University of Southampton

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Prière de l’étoile de mer<br />

Seigneur<br />

L’abîme est fermé sur moi<br />

Ne suis-je pas<br />

quelque Lucifer<br />

tombé du ciel<br />

et délaissé<br />

aux torments des vagues?<br />

Voyez,<br />

j’ai l’air d’une étoile de sang.<br />

J’essaie de me souvenir<br />

de ma royauté lontaine<br />

mais en vain.<br />

Rampant sur le sable,<br />

j’écarte mes branches<br />

et je rêve, je rêve, je rêve…<br />

Seigneur,<br />

un ange<br />

ne m’arrachera-t-il pas<br />

du fond des mers<br />

pour m’incruster de nouveau<br />

dans Votre ciel?<br />

Ah! qu’un jour,<br />

Ainsi sois-il!<br />

Carmen Bernos de Basztold,<br />

Choral de Bêtes, Editions du Cloitre,<br />

Paris.<br />

Prayer <strong>of</strong> the starfish<br />

Lord,<br />

The depths have closed over me.<br />

Am I not<br />

like Lucifer<br />

fallen from heaven<br />

and abandoned<br />

to the torment <strong>of</strong> the weaves?<br />

See,<br />

I look like a blood star.<br />

I try to remember<br />

my distant royalty<br />

but in vain.<br />

Crawling on the sand,<br />

I open my arms<br />

and I dream, I dream, I dream…<br />

Lord,<br />

could not an angel<br />

pull me up<br />

from the bottom <strong>of</strong> the sea<br />

to place me again<br />

in Your heaven?<br />

Ah! one day,<br />

So be it!<br />

Translated by John Lawrence<br />

(A functional biology <strong>of</strong><br />

echinoderms,<br />

Croom & Helm, London &<br />

Sidney)<br />

Every time a single larva is released, the entire ocean lights up with possibilities.<br />

Francisco Benitez Villalobos<br />

10

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!