November by Marilyne Bertoncini, translated by Jan Owen


 

The huge plane-tree is too patched with rust this morning
to conceal
autumn anymore
But its roots run
so deep
and the waters
come from so far
to quench its thirst
that it’s been the last around here
to allow the fire of time to blaze it
and it still resists and shows off dripping green leaves under the rain
and calls you from the deep heart of earth
where nothing passes but eternity.

 
 
from “The Plane Tree”
 
 
 
Marilyne Bertoncini is a poet and translator from Nice, France. Her work has appeared in various journals such as La Traductière, Recours au Poème, Nouveau Sud , Il Giornale di Parma, and Cordite Poetry Review. Her latest translation of Barry Wallenstein’s Tony’s Blues has been published by Recours au Poème Edition and her first collection, Labyrinthe des Nuits, will be published by the same in March 2015.
 
Jan Owen is a South Australian poet and translator, whose most recent book is Poems 1980 – 2008. She has had residencies in Venice, Rome, Paris and Malaysia. Awards for her work include the Mary Gilmore Prize, the Wesley Michel Wright Prize and the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize.