Two Francophone Poems

POETRY Alain Mabanckou, from Congo-Brazzaville, is considered one of francophone Africa’s most prolific contemporary writers. Twice a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, his work has garnered a multitude of awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix de la Littérature from the Académie Française. Nancy Naomi Carlson, poet and translator, received an NEA fellowship to translate Mabanckou’s poetry. The New York Times called her latest collection “new and noteworthy.” Two Francophone Poems by Alain Mabanckou [draw your strength] draw your strength from the lifeless leaf break all bonds until you can tie your fate to the baobab trunk don’t hold within yourself any dream discounted on the public square don’t look at the will-o’-the-wisp constantly climb back up the slope even if steep the voices arriving from the other hill are only echoes [let’s ask the stone] let’s ask the stone where to find Truth it will tell us it’s in this earthly world and only here it’s in this earthly world where wind stirs oceans twist and turn waterways split it’s in this earthly world where dreams straddle borders pierce invisible walls Translations from the French By Nancy Naomi Carlson WORLDLIT.ORG 49 PHOTO: GLENN RUBEN BERG / UNSPLASH

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