Le cimetière

By Mory Keita

Les cadavres de morts englouties  le terrain,

Comme des corbeaux penchés  sur de la viande fraiche.

La sérénité du cimetière me fait pense’ a l’éternité.

Ah éternité !  Englouti moi dans ta profondeur sèche ;

Englouti moi que je puisse échapper à la mort.

 ( English version)

Dead bodies engulf the terrain,

Like crows perched upon fresh meat.

The serenity of the cemetery makes me think about eternity.

Ah eternity! Sink me into your dry profounder,

Sink me that I can escape death.

Le cimetière

A place beneath the tree

              By Mory Keita

Where is that place beneath the tree?

That temple of wisdom where knowledge

Flourish and falls like summer’s leaves,

And existence has a proper significance.

Where is that lost paradise my heart seeks?

There, Pythagoras and Archimedes discuss

 Symmetries of nature and beauty of shapes;

Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and great thinkers

Question the purpose of life itself.

That is the place I wish, that is the world I have lost.

Adam and Eve lost the Garden of Eden and did not find it again,

Will I find again that place beneath the tree?

Till that day, I shall find solace in this  foolish world.

                                              

A place beneath the tree

The Fool

By Mory Keita

There was a fool, there was a sage,

There was a king, there was a peasant,

There was a charlatan, there was a scholar,

All in quest of glories to come;

Amongst them the fool was the most hated.

He once stood upon Mont Sinai, God’s stick in hand

And prophesied to his people the moon landing,

But he was ridiculed.

He traveled nations like Moses, declaring that all men are equal,

But he was mocked and threatened by kings and aristocrats.

Again, he studied heavens days and nights,

Then proclaimed in all truth that earth was round,

But he was accused of heresy. 

Upon all times was a fool, upon all times was a detractor.

But fools prevailed as the world evolved.

Thus, I have decided to travel the road of the fool.

The Fool