"Anna and the Chair" by Samira Negrouche, translated by Marilyn Hacker

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October 1, 2022 
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Anna

Samira Negrouche
translated from the French by Marilyn Hacker

Anna the chair was overturned it’s after the end—whatever end—that we must readjust forgetting—paradise Anna sometimes has a taste of mouldy sun—when I think of the sun I want to think of Senac, of Amrouche, of Amrani—but when I think sun I want to think of the California sun, the one I’ve never seen—that mother-earth that nourishes you—and desire makes its place in what perhaps will happen, it doesn’t matter much if it happens—at the end paradise puts the chair back—I’m not saying the chair stands upright again—I’m not saying that it gets up—but isn’t there something that has to be put right and I think that it’s the idea of paradise itself that’s bothering me—in the Koran some remember especially the virgins offered to martyrs—there should be an end to such sacrifice, Anna—of course restore the virgins and the mothers—for the Marabout of Dakar, there was no point in going to Mecca because, he said, Mecca is your mother’s hip—honor your mother’s hip he said—he didn’t say strangle yourself with your umbilical cord—but your mother like Mecca is a promised land—you must go there only once—my mother’s land is a joyful cord—it’s a song in the bath—thawardets—the rose—my mother remembers the bath—all children are beautiful—and paradise, Anna, is a mother in whom you travel only once—a refrain that remains like a faraway pulse—we aren’t perfect, Anna—we aren’t imperfect either—

 


 

Anna

 

Anna la chaise est renversée c’est à partir de la fin—n’importe quelle fin—qu’il faudrait réajuster l’oubli—le paradis Anna a parfois un goût de soleil moisi—quand je pense au soleil je veux penser à Sénac à Amrouche à Amrani—mais quand je pense soleil je veux penser au soleil de la Californie—celui que je n’ai jamais vu—cette terre mère qui t’irrigue—le désir prend place dans ce qui adviendra peut-être—peu importe si ça advient—à la fin le paradis rétablit la chaise—je ne dis pas que la chaise redevient droite—je ne dis pas qu’elle se dresse—mais quelque chose n’est-ce pas doit être rétabli et je crois que c’est l’idée même du paradis qui m’inquiète—dans le Coran il ruisselle sous les pieds des mamans—dans le Coran certains retiennent les vierges offertes aux sacrifiés—il faut renverser le sacrifice Anna—sans doute rétablir les vierges et les mères—pour le Marabout de Dakar il ne sert à rien d’aller à la Mecque car dit-il la Mecque c’est le flanc de ta mère—honore le flanc de ta mère dit-il—il ne dit pas étrangle-toi avec ton cordon ombilical—mais ta mère comme une Mecque est une terre promise—il ne faut y voyager qu’une fois—la terre de ma mère est un cordon joyeux—c’est une chanson dans le bain—thawardets—la rose—ma mère se rappelle le bain—tous les enfants sont beaux—et le paradis Anna est une mère dans laquelle on ne voyage qu’une fois—un refrain qui reste comme un battement lointain—nous ne sommes pas parfaits Anna—nous ne sommes pas imparfaits non plus—

Copyright © 2022 by Samira Negrouche and Marilyn Hacker. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 1, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“‘Anna’ is the first poem of a longer section called ‘Thanksgiving’ that is itself part of an ongoing dialogue with the poet and translator Anna Moschovakis. Written in November 2015 during a visit to Anna in the Catskills, it reflects on notions such as the sacred and the sacrifice.”
Samira Negrouche

Samira Negrouche is a poet and translator who lives in Algiers. She is the author of several titles, including Traces (Fidel Anthelme X, 2021) and The Olive Trees’ Jazz and Other Poems (Pleiades Press, 2020), translated by Marilyn Hacker.

Marilyn Hacker is the author of fifteen books of poems, including Calligraphies, forthcoming from W. W. Norton in 2023, and two collaborative books, Diaspo/Renga, written with Deema K. Shehabi (Holland Park Press, 2014) and A Different Distance, written with Karthika Naïr (Milkweed Editions, 2021). She has translated eighteen books of French and Francophone poets and lives in Paris.

The Olive Trees’ Jazz and Other Poems
(Pleiades Press, 2020)


“Marble Hill” by Kazim Ali
read more
“White Chairs” by Krystyna Dąbrowska
read more

Thanks to Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, author of Cenzontle (BOA Editions, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read or listen to a Q&A about Castillo’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year
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