Je suis une feuille [English translation]

Would I have imagined that I would find myself here

A pen nib poised on my skin

HmmHmm

The eyes of my executioner which don’t leave me

My whiteness makes him afraid, I know that he’s looking for his words

HmmHmm

I am a blank page, I wasn’t asking for anything

But to stay on my tree and to wait for the end

Me I liked the wind losing itself in my leaves

the murmur of the sap that gave me life

Me I liked the perspective that I had on things

I didn’t see the blade that betrayed me coming

If I had at least served as an official paper

For signing treaties and protecting the weak

HmmHmm

Or been in the hands of a forgotten poet

Who threw me his verses as one seeks a friend

HmmHmm

I could have been pressed again the heart of a child

Hearing in my lines the voice of his lover

Or been the paper plane of an 8 year old kid

And flown in the air on the laughter of children

Or been in the pages of a history book

Which says that the path is still so long

But now I feel the pen stroking me

And the letters form themselves as the ink swirls

HmmHmm

I’ve never seen anything heavier than the weight of these words

It’s the misery of a man that I feel on my back

Hmmhmm

He says “I want to finish with my life

Forgive me my love but I’m stopping here

It’s not your fault if I lay down my arms 1

But I’ve lost my chance of winning down here”

And me, it was my role to carry all these words

And the tears of a woman will fall on me soon

I could have been pressed again the heart of a child

Hearing in my lines the voice of his lover

Or been the paper plane of an 8 year old kid

And flown in the air on the laughter of children

But I am turning the page of a sad story

Which says that the road wasn’t so long

Not so long

Not so long....

1. The French expression "baisser les bras" (lower one's arms) means to surrender. I have used the English expression "lay down one's arms" as it carries the same meaning. But note that the "arms" in the English expression are weapons.