This poem was originally published in the Middlebury College French Gazette. I wrote it while I was auditing their 7-week total immersion language program. It was exhausting, but by Week 3, I was writing poetry in French. I’ll provide the English translation first, and then the original French. It was inspired by a common phrase in French “Quand j’etais petite” which means “When I was little.” (Photo by Albrecht Fietz.)

The Little One

When I was little
I hid myself
In the armoire
Where the cobwebs
Trembled
Lilac and livid
Flowing
From the fabrics.

When I was little
I danced
With the strange children
Where the trees
Grew
Dark and wild
Whispering
Their secrets.

When I was little
I played
Between the mausoleums
Where the flowers
Mouldered
Bitter and bent
Blackening
The angels.

When I was little
Sometimes the dead
Spoke.
But
When you are little  
You don’t have a choice
You don’t have a choice.

So,
I listened.

Petite

Quand j’étais petite
Je me cachais
Dans l’armoire
Où les toiles
Tremblaient
Lilas et livides
Coulaient
Des tissus.

Quand j’étais petite
Je dansais
Avec des enfants étranges
Où les arbres
Croissaient
Sombres et sauvages
Chuchotaient
Ses secrets.

Quand j’étais petite
Je jouais
Entre les mausolées
Où les fleurs
Pourrissaient
Pénibles et pliés
Noircissaient
Les anges.

Quand j’étais petite
Parfois les morts
Parlaient…
Mais
Quand tu es petite
Tu n’as pas de choix
Tu n’as pas de choix.

Alors,
J’écoutais.