untitled

                 for Hector, Santiago de Chile, October 1985

To denounce the well
that steals the bird’s song
by drawing it into its vaults

To denounce the line
that stops the bird’s flight
against a clothes line full of sheets

To denounce the wind
that veers the bird
far from its mouth’s spring

To denounce the bird
that saw the well

To denounce the bird that saw the line

To denounce the bird that saw the wind

To denounce the bird
that saw the bird

The soldier
that tortured us
went on suckling a dog
before our eyes
at the barrel of his gun

Never denounce the speech
that has spoken

Translated by Yann Lovelock and Patrick Williamson

© Serge Pey

Serge Pey was born in Toulouse in 1950. He writes his texts on sticks and he creates ritual installations of poems. A writer, teacher, and oral improviser, Pey divides his time between Toulouse and Mexico. He is also the founder of the Direct Poetry Festival, and of the reviews Tribu and Emeute. He has published approximately fifteen books, notably La définition de l’aigle Notre Dame la noire ou l’Evangile du Serpent, and La mère du cercle.