Metamorphosed — Web Exclusive
By Marie-Claire Bancquart
Translated by Wendeline Hardenberg
Animals clipped into the boxwood trees
of the villas near Venice.
What if we were some deity’s boxwood trees
sculpted tenderly, with gentle shears?
The gloom inside us
would come out in tiny leaves
serried
with a heady scent.
Just like Ovid’s metamorphosed, we would be forgetful
of loves, of pursuits.
Basking in the glow of air that trembles in the sun
toward evening
when the humidity climbs beneath a verdant sky
we would feel our hearts
revive somewhat amid our branches
with that
of the trompe l’œil people in the dining room frescoes
gossiping through the open window
just small talk, far from the bitterness of things.
Marie-Claire Bancquart has published over twenty collections of poetry, including Projets alternés, Mémoire d’abolie, Partition, and Opportunité des oiseaux. She has received the Grand Prix de critique de l’Académie française, Grand prix de l’Association internationale des critiques, and prix Sainte-Beuve de la critique, among others.
Wendeline A. Hardenberg received a dual MA/MLS and a Certificate of Literary Translation from Indiana University Bloomington. She currently serves as the instruction coordinator for Buley Library at Southern Connecticut State University. Her translations of Marie-Claire Bancquart’s poetry have appeared in Ezra: An Online Journal of Literary Translation, Ozone Park Journal, Qarrtsiluni Online Literary Magazine, and The Dirty Goat.
Original Text: Marie-Claire Bancquart, Avec la mort, quartier d'orange entre les dents. Paris: Obsidiane, 2005.