The Cold Air Barbed by Wind
Written by Emmanuel Merle
Translated from French by Jennifer Barber
Narrated by Bill Wolak
France
the cold air barbed by wind
by mountains embedded in sky
each step on the earth like a lead weight
a ballast for slanted rain
and even so I go
I go in spite of everything I go
under the cover of myself
past a mountain lake like a lidless eye
a wound cauterized by sky
I’m surrounded by stones all standing
like icebergs of gray of rust
always I go my hands torn
my fingers in shreds I go
head in the wind like a cairn in motion
O my broken knees I go
the firs like an army halted
their roots like weapons at their feet
this trail is a scar November heals
Emmanuel Merle lives in Grenoble, France. He has published more than twenty books of poetry and more than 200 artist’s books. He is a literary teacher and president of the Espace Pandora, an association dedicated to cultural action and the defense of poetry.
Jennifer Barber’s new poetry collection, The Sliding Boat Our Bodies Made, is forthcoming from The Word Works in 2022. She is the founding editor of the literary journal Salamander, and she lives in the Boston area.