hot-air balloon
Colette Leinman
Translated from the French by Sabine Huynh
One can make all sorts of odd things fly
a ball
a kite
a hot-air balloon
an iron
unsteady configuration for sure
but
you just need to implement a digital control system
the shape doesn’t matter
as long as there are wings
bathtubs were seen flying
it only takes a bit more work
than a plane
which is quite natural
montgolfière
On peut faire voler plein de choses bizarres
un ballon
un cerf-volant
une montgolfière
un fer à repasser
configuration instable sans doute
mais
il suffit d’y mettre un système de contrôle
numérique
la forme n’a pas d’importance
il ne faut que les ailes
on a vu voler des baignoires
c’est juste un peu plus compliqué
qu’un avion
normal
From: Colette Leinman, Ce qui reste d’écorce (L’Harmattan, Paris, 2008).
Colette Leinman is a visual artist and a poet. Her doctoral thesis is about exhibition catalogues and the avant-garde. Exhibitions of her work have been shown in galleries and museums around the world. She has published two collections of poems in French with L’Harmattan (Paris): Des comme si à croire et à rêver (2004) and Ce qui reste d’écorce (2008). For more information, please visit http://followcolette.wordpress.com/ and http://www.coletteleinman.com/.
Sabine Huynh is a poet, novelist and literary translator. She was born in Saigon in 1972, grew up in France, and currently lives in Tel Aviv. Her work has appeared in anthologies, literary journals, and newspapers in Europe, North America, and Israel. She initiated and edited (together with A. Lacelle, A. Paoli, and A. Tournaire) the forthcoming world anthology of modern French poetry by women, pas d’ici, pas d’ailleurs (Voix d’encre publications, Sept. 2012), and is awaiting publication of her first novel, La Mer et l’enfant (Galaade Editions, Jan. 2013). www.sabinehuynh.com.