Nathalie Le Breton's musical poetry isn't meant to be just read but experienced.
Her work reminds me of what E.M. Forster wrote in A Room With a View:
"I only wish the poets would say this too: love is of the body; not the body, but of
the body. Ah! the misery that would be saved if we confessed that!"
Le Breton's verse, which is spiritual, is of the body too. Her words don't merely sit on the page: They roll, leap and twirl...and invite us to do the same.
Many thanks to her for letting me share four of her poems with you.
Erzulie
Once I met a ghost.
She wore a purple hat
and spoke all languages.
She also spoke in tongues.
dancing island tongues,
swirling tongues of joy and
pounding tongues of sorrow.
She touched her silver heart.
She told the old story
of women and children,
and she cried.
Then there was our goodbye.
Some ghosts come only once
and leave their heart behind.
Thrill
I never liked them.
Carousel or Ferris wheel,
name them all,
I never liked them.
But I too wanted to be thrilled,
I too wanted to feel under my skin
the fragile miracle,
and abandon myself in it
and lose the mind
lose the routine
live and feel.
One might say I had superior ambitions.
Maybe, but I have been forgiven.
So I threw away my shoes,
ran up the green hill
where butterflies flew in circles,
and I danced with them,
in their golden carousel
flapping my own large wings
in a blue sky no Ferris wheel could reach.
I was spinning,
my body electric,
then I rolled down the hill
buzzing like a bee
filled with ecstasy.
Mossy Teachings
"I hold tight to the vision that someday soon we will find the courage of self-restraint, the humility to live like mosses.” Robin Wall Kimmerer - Gathering Moss.
Who knows what moss would say
if only she could speak.
She would tell you stories of light
and love stories of rain.
She might also tell you of her own
improbability,
of her rootless travels to the little spaces
and how she had to change
when the winds turned around.
She might then remind you of your own
improbability,
tell you to take little
and give more in return,
Whisper there is still time
to let yourself glitter.
For You
Come sit with me,
We’ll smell jasmine
Spell the word wind
Eat strawberries.
You’ll kiss the sun
I’ll watch the bees
I’ll sing a song
You’ll smile at me.
Come sit with me,
We’ll drink iced tea
Spell the word sweet
Wiggle our feet.
My Darling you could be,
Come sit with me.
About the author:
Nathalie Le Breton is a French native speaker who has relocated in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys exploring a different language as a form of personal discovery and melodic expression. She also enjoys reading poetry and children's books, knitting, drinking tea, and walking slowly through the seasons.
