Exploring a non-binary world through binaries
Following poet and translator Sawako Nakayasu's unconventional modes of translation, this piece is an exploration of the art of cross cultural and contextual communication. (See more.) Translated from the original French into English by Audrey Leong.
Rules:
1. write the opposite meaning of each line (by visual and action; generally, position and objects stay the same)
2. write an antonym for each word (priorities: function, origin, materiality, singular to plural; conjunctions may vary depending on the verb or situation)
Original by Pierre Reverdy
Une Éclaircie
Il fait plus noir
Les yeux se ferment
La prairie se dressait plus claire
Dans l'air il y avait un mouchoir
Et tu faisais des signes
Ta main sortait sous la manche du soir
Je voulais franchir la barrière
Quelque chose me retenait
Le cri venait de loin
Par derrière la nuit
Et tout ce qui s'avance
Et tout ce que je fuis
Encore
Je me rappelle
La rue que le matin inondait de soleil
Une Éclaircie
Il fait plus noir
Les yeux se ferment
La prairie se dressait plus claire
Dans l'air il y avait un mouchoir
Et tu faisais des signes
Ta main sortait sous la manche du soir
Je voulais franchir la barrière
Quelque chose me retenait
Le cri venait de loin
Par derrière la nuit
Et tout ce qui s'avance
Et tout ce que je fuis
Encore
Je me rappelle
La rue que le matin inondait de soleil
Calque (Word for Word)
A Clearing/A Brightening/Brightening Period/Sunny Spell/Enlightenment
It is no longer dark
Eyes close
The meadow stood lighter
In the air there was a handkerchief
And you were waving
Your hand went out under the evening sleeve
I wanted to cross the barrier
Something was holding me back
The cry came from afar
From behind the night
And everything that comes forward
And all I'm running away from
Again
I remember
The street that the morning flooded with sunshine
A Clearing/A Brightening/Brightening Period/Sunny Spell/Enlightenment
It is no longer dark
Eyes close
The meadow stood lighter
In the air there was a handkerchief
And you were waving
Your hand went out under the evening sleeve
I wanted to cross the barrier
Something was holding me back
The cry came from afar
From behind the night
And everything that comes forward
And all I'm running away from
Again
I remember
The street that the morning flooded with sunshine
mistranslation
A Closing
Forever darkening
Eyes widening
The meadow shrank to obscurity
In the sky there was a gun
And you threatened to shoot
Your hand hid within nighttime’s sleeve
I wanted to flee the scene
Nothing held me back
The cry came from within
Ahead of me daybreak
And everything that hides
And everything that I yearn for
Never again
I forget
The tide the morning had flooded with darkness.
Forever darkening
Eyes widening
The meadow shrank to obscurity
In the sky there was a gun
And you threatened to shoot
Your hand hid within nighttime’s sleeve
I wanted to flee the scene
Nothing held me back
The cry came from within
Ahead of me daybreak
And everything that hides
And everything that I yearn for
Never again
I forget
The tide the morning had flooded with darkness.
Beginning
Never brightening
Fist clenching
Steel towers rose up brightly
Beneath dirt fields lost keys
And we retreated to safety
Our eyes unmasked by daylight’s wounds
You hated to stay
Everything pushed you away
The silence vanished in the distance
Behind you dusk
With nothing exposed
And nothing you can rid yourself of
Forever more
You remember
The cave the evening had withheld of light.