found poem – Paris, spring 2013, translation

But he brought to everything the gaze
of a superior artist, sensitive to the secret
poetry of the real and able
to express it afresh.

In life we do things, some we wish we had never done
certain things can be told
some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads
of course with words
but they all make us who we are
others with gestures
and in the end they shape every detail about us.

but there are moments which leave us speechless
if we were to reverse any of them, we wouldn’t be
the person we are.  So just live, make mistakes
completely lost and disorientated
have wonderful memories
at a loss to know what to do
but never ever second guess who you are
where you have been, and most importantly
where it is you’re going.
it’s here that dance begins.

Poetry is an extreme sport.

Notes: To bring out the contrasting voices in the main part of the poem, I have italicised the French voice.  I think this is a better option here than changing the layout of the poem, as I did to bring out the contrasts in the found poem from Stockholm.

For locations, see original poem.

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