JACQUES REBOTIER

La Cigarette


Elle  n'est  pas  le  moindre  de  ses défauts. Elle
vous  emmène  là  ou  le  vent  l'emporte,  volte,
gire,  volute.   Dès   que   vous   avez   passé   la
fenêtre, elle fait silence et se replie sur elle. Elle
est bleue.  Que  lui importe? La cigarette n'a pas
le moindre de ses défauts.


The Cigarette
    
            
It  is  not  the  least of her faults.  She  takes  you
there where  the  wind  carries,  she  flips, swirls,
whirls.  As soon as you go past the window,  she
quiets down and recoils.  She is blue. What does
she care?   The  cigarette  is  not  the least of her
faults.


                            
                            Translated by Zachary Schomburg


 
70   The Paris-American

Jacques Rebotier is a poet, actor, director and composer. He has written over a dozen books of poems. These translations are from his  book of poems, Quelques Animaux de
Transport et de Compagnie (Harpo &, 2004). He was born in 1950 and is French. More information can be found here: www.rebotier.net/

Zachary Schomburg is the author of The Man Suit (2007), Scary, No Scary (2009), Fjords vol. 1 (2012), and a forthcoming book called The Book of Joshua. He co-edits Octopus Books and co-curates the Bad Blood Reading Series in Portland, OR.

---

   
   Next week's poet:

 Christopher Kondrich
 Winner of the 2013 The Paris-American Reading Series Contest