Malak Mattar, Untitled (detail), 2024, charcoal on paper
180
Translated from the French by Karina Borowicz and Ben Admussen
Light
reached its hand
into evening’s purse
and pulled out
a star.
Malcolm de Chazal (1902-1981), Mauritian author and painter, is best remembered for his 1947 volume, Sens-Plastique, which contains over two thousand thoughts, aphorisms, and short poetic utterances. The translations presented here are from his later and much smaller collection, Poèmes, published in 1968.
Karina Borowicz is an MFA candidate at the University of New Hampshire. She has published poems in Modern Haiku, Small Spiral Notebook, and Contrary. (6/2007)
Ben Admussen holds a BA in French from Washington University and an MA in Slavic Literature from the University of Kansas. (6/2007)