ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHADOW by Roselyne Sibille

(Translated from the French by Karthika Nair.)

You sleep on the other side of the shadow

An unknown veil divides us
a flimsiest layer
that your breath alone traverses

I seek
with outstretched hand
I place it frail
I grope the screen
I press my words against your silence
I search
for ones that could join you

That which immured you
also stole
the colours from you
blades of wheat that dazzle earth

By which crevice can I bring you blue
or the angle of light ?

Can I caress your absence
with an eyelash of space
whisper like a smile
say ochre so you see outside ?

You harken to the hand
the silence of shadow in the hand
captured in a weightless screen

You wait

You harken to the word of the hand
leaning on transparency

You know not if the hand
protects or rejects
takes cover
sequesters you

You harken in the indentation of light
the grey of blue
the ochre of white
the void and its edging of blood

You gaze into the beyond from the hand
at the window perhaps
green
to move into its name

Who sleeps on the other side of the gaze?
Who sleeps there where nothing
has been written yet?