translated fromthe French by Peter Riley

Shearsman BooksExeter2004

Anne-Marie Albiach

Two Poems:

Flammigère

&

The line the loss

First published in 2004 by Shearsman Books, 58 Velwell Road, Exeter EX4 4LD, England,

The original texts were published as follows:

Flammigère (Siècle à Mains, London, 1967).Copyright © Siècle à Mains, 1967.

La ligne la perte in je te continue ma lecture: Mélanges pour Claude Royet-Journoud (P.O.L. éditeur, Paris, 1999)Copyright © P.O.L. éditeur, 1999.

The translations are copyright © Peter Riley, 2004. All rights reserved.

The publisher wishes to thank Anne-Marie Albiach for her kind permission to publish these works, and Peter Riley for undertaking the translations.

ISBN 0-907562-41-8

ANNE-MARIE ALBIACH

fl ammigère

English version by Peter Riley

5

the size of the sexin the uncertainty of genderand the singularities of the pluralremains with uswe strangersassigned to this wound

this rigid quest

whatever the resultingequation inhered intothe enigmafl esh rejoins bloodand mingles there with the heat existsin the preciseness of absenceSpace weighs upon blackslowness of caress

6

carnal simultaneitypoint of space where our assimilable futures confront each otherand the male joint that unites usone with the otherin the “welcoming enigma of the language”reverse side of realitywherefemale Nettle

sterility pinches the green gutinto unmovinginto unperturbedinto clarity of the scarsand renewed death of the bladesknives inhering in their light

gets up humbles himselfgets up folds up in black as in the egg of abeach shimmering with heatand coiled on the sand is reborn in the sterile fi bres ofthe trinitarian androgyne

7

into cremation of the powersthe humble enslaved returnto the landseduction: roots veins coaxedto reintegrate the matrixwithdrawal to prismenclosure of a catacombbusy with wings Heat of the illusioninto the tenderness of the muscles and of the gait

to raise the anchorsto stiffen the dreams amputations

aspiration their woundstowards the uniform sectioning of timegame, cutting edgewhere the present is fl ayedand our wound with it

8

Dylan quest born again in the arteriesof this throngunique the breath revives again ourpersonal eternity

you have to fearyou have to fearthe aim of the inexorable returnpossesses usand the score of all painbirth-cry of the sound I bring you to the shout at last —

To give the illusionmake yourself out carnaland give it at the expense of appearances fl agellationsas quick as the sightvanishedI have dreamt of him

Concentration extreme volition of the muscletide of breathmastered and regainedthe permanent threatbut to absurdity this rushmore quicklymoreand to againthe anguish a breathor a room or a straw matpress ustowards

9

A single profi le and our kneeslike fl oggingsof the impossibledesires still-born of the prism these impulsions torment us Cesspit of sounds Trihedron of the stairs

10

Slowness of fi rePangs of dissolutionbruised desire for the future the sap of a pleasure erasesthe unity to be won backBreath safeguards

He says lacerationnon-existencethose carnivorous plants, our ancestorsthe heat the weatherthe space of a lookof a fl ight that fallsthe bend sharpensthis dream protects us from the fall (in you) (in us)

a sword that runs us throughthe ravaged space

and yet the fi ssure is in this mud

11

slowness of the plantswonder of the molecules

water and speechspace you have to believe in it

the morningambivalence of quartzpainfulthe lined fabric of his voiceSome of the scars closestroke the ivory without fearyou like a blue stonejoy, spontaneity of the movementshigh accord unexpected

I shoutrefl ection of the blind mirrorand in the sonorous solitudein being, door tight shut

tears behind the lookin permanent terms

12

A look lies waitingon the across the stairbundle of branchesThe hunger for white heat for the immeasurable

spirit of the plantsfor millennia the earth has been returning to usand we go to earthin the spirit of the plants

13

the larvae launch their attack on the summits

earthen crystallization of wordsthe mind and its reptilian circumferencedeep-sea eye intrinsic cyclopsarrived a fossil across the virginal ages of the earthbearing artful tree-trunksa habit of the sun’s

the fi re potential and ridiculousdresses a plinth for them

transparency of the unicornfl ower garnered in the rampantroots BREATHintact among the grasping for objectsour union in a movementhardly

ANNE-MARIE ALBIACH

The line the loss

English version by Peter Riley

17

the account would be blindthe spasms of the oracle structurein the working of coloursthe margin constrains the circlethe evidence on the groundin a perfect liquidity where the languagegoes back on its wordthe heart in the rhythm of denialthe light rejoins weakness in the former declarationthe facts of the case withdraw to the horizona term found wantingdriving accusation of the air full of gesturesdedicated to the embrace the subject shrinkssleep bears them into the clearing In scarlet draperies they presided on the theme of an absence

18

Delineation of desire Discourse, relapsed murmuringthe representation:soundless expanse of vocabulary space, a morning datumthe cold imprints the contoursthe witness gives out the themefacing discreditthis coolness troubling to the eyeThe simulacrum opens the wound heaviness

disavowal, bestiarythe partition where childhood’s alphabetwatched by a strangerthe numerical parallels their connectionsit transpires of the word a notchan attentive duplicitythe fall of a body is lackinggenre adjustmentthe random displacementinterval : the objects fl ood onto the table at low tide

19

the conjunction parabolain applying the stroke a sign of mental aridityas a hearthCaress, acrid slowness

The trihedral suspendedfar away the blood on the wriststhe meadow the territory into the distanceProlonged into the neuterscrupulous wakesteps countedVision slows towards the edgessubversive notionA paralysis progresses and descendsinto bewildermenta concise disorder is enthralled with him who stays awake extended towards the meeting pointA splinter in the chest: she no longer risked itto the extreme or the customin the versifi cation a stray pennytime implodes where the neighbourhood endsat the limit an unshakable doubtthe arithmetic of disasteracuity of an expression immediate tendernessdrawn into ludic intentthe lining our glances

20

reverberationthe links laid barein the mutterings: starting again for a few minutesprior to articulation a land without mooringsThe plea of origins confusion: the driftingOf inner mist a night of outbreaksattack on sacred placesCaught out palpable blackvague profi lereverted glances :

interjunctionconsonance of vowels forbidden signsforgotten homicide in specifyingA veil of heat would divert the breath

in lossblueing of the eyelidsThe stake becomes unclear the enigma arrivesadjoining theatreindelible actionsStatement concerning a deviationthe murderous analogies laceration head turned aside during the acquittalthe opacityabsentees in the fi ction

21

all along the river-banksThe image cast back at the lower angle geographical accuracy(the outcrop of hours passed under threat) full harmoniesa ritual the shadow the screen the erosionthe voice releases a latent pulsionthe fi nale shrinks as if at this reversal devoted to the ashesrevives the alphabetsimulacrumlooking onto the courtyard the grip of the real(all the earth is frozen)in an accession of symbolsTo raise the obstructing masslatent confusionwork of felling the fences untranslatable they shrinkconceptual localities in the backgroundinnerve a thoughtin this future extentmute they follow the track of signsTurning their heads they know this woundhumidity of the sheets in September evenings

22

multiform silenceout of bounds declension close to the laceration Double exposure in the motiveI turn the page they insist on the partitionsthe real declares itself uncertainin the description irradiates the napetowards a verticalprints in wild placesby this ritual she retiesClosed on the judgement cuts shortan abstract discrimination our steps on the pavinga rectangle of lightthe chords febrileat the borderrepudiate the trail that leads to this placeAlong the veins a contrivanceingestion theatricalthe tissue rips apart when we look at itShe wanted to get away they brought her back by forcedarkness adherence to the forms

23

nodistraction on the paths that meet leading to the searebellion up against the letterone word wipes out the censureupheaval of the rhythmsfamiliar dilacerationthe sense is lostpartition ignorance runs short into a term of coparcenary deteriorateswe shall have to begin all over again lead it towards its divergencethey speak from afar multiple in the confusionshe feeds herself on that groundA choking that they disapprove of on the segmentsImmersed in an alien logic they act out the developmentThe fi rst signs where the name repudiates itself:a strength harbours this gentlenessthe vicedetermines the distance apart on the underside of the storythat which scatters

24

or determinesa thirst abridges the distancesthey didn’t know the originthis modethe withdrawal applies to the measuresThe re-offending blasphemousa pain in the sideat the intersectionthe bulk obliterates the darktrapped in the sceneryan invertebrate curveAnother stain on the groundit remains the song’s double-barosmosis elaborated in the silenceA cycle at its endthe slowness since the latitudesintends an overtureinfatuated with the motif(they advance in the dark)beside some water coursethorough dazzlementwhat is saidin this consanguinityhunger cold and nocturnal riotsshe walkedspelling out a grammar

25

the equivalent readingin abusive co-ordinatesOn a platform on the edge of a rivera gaping sentencethe presence in fi ligreethroughout the discoursefor a deeper cutthe nul point that hurtsin the thoughtthe telling of an erotismmakes itself uniquely clear

Translator’s Note

All I have tried to do is to represent in English the primary experience of the original text, to identify the semantic entities performing in this tense and startling theatre. This work would never have got even that far without the invaluable help of Jean Khalfa, Andrew Rothwell, and Ian Patterson.

PR