Olivier Messiaen's (1908-1992) poems below are translated from the French, Harawi: Song of Love and Death (1945).

A.C. Evans's translations of Alfred Jarry and Max Ernst are found elsewhere in this issue.

Bonjour Toi, Green Dove

Bonjour toi, green dove
Returning to the sky
Bonjour toi, limpid pearl
Depart from the water
A star in chains
A shadow divided
Toi, of flowers and of fruits
Of the sky and the waters.
Chant des oiseaux,
Bonjour, d'eau.

Doundou Tchil

Doundou tchil
There you are, Piroutcha, o mon amoi
Dance of the stars, doundou tchil
There you are, Piroutcha, o mon amoi
Intimate bird-mirror, doundou tchil
Rainbow, my breath-of-life, my echo,
Your gaze is returned, tchil
There you are, Piroutcha, o mon amoi
My offering ascends in the light, doundou tchil
Toungou, mapa, nama, mapa, kahipipas.

Katchikatchi the Stars

Katchikatchi the stars
Make the jump
Katchikatchi the stars
Make the dance
Katchikatchi atomic
Make the jump
Katchikatchi the stars
Make the dance
Spiral nebulae
Hands of my hair
Electrons, ants, arrows
Silence en deux
Alpha Centauri
Betelgeuse, Aldeberan
Expand space rainbow
Riot of time
Ionised laugh fury of the hour glass
Absent murder
Cut off my head
Your number runs with blood!
Tou, ahi, mane, mani.

Star-Bird Love

          after Messiaen

          Based on the painting "Seeing is Believing" by Roland Penrose


Star-bird
Your eye sings
Your head inverse beneath the sky
Your eye-star
Mountains tumble
Toward the stars
The shortest way from shadow to sky
All the star-birds
Far from the scene my hands praise
Star, silence expands the skies
My hands, your eye, your neck, the sky.